AND  THE 

CHRISTIAN  IisTdIAJvIS 

New  England 


FROM   THE   LIBRARY   OF 
REV.    LOUIS    FITZGERALD    BENSON,   D.  D. 

BEQUEATHED   BY   HIM   TO 

THE   LIBRARY  OF 

PRINCETON  THEOLOGICAL  SEMINARY 


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OCT  12  1931 


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SAMSON  OCCOM 


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AND 


THE    CHRISTIAN    INDIANS   OF 
NEW    ENGLAND 


BY 


W.  DeLOSS  love,  Ph.D. 

.\UTHOR   OF   "THE   FAST   AND  THANKSGIVING   DAYS  OF  NEW    KNGLANI 


BOSTON 

(Etje  pilgrim  press 

CHICAGO 


Copyright,  1899, 
By  W.  DeLOSS  LOVE 


TO 

PROFESSOR    EDWARD   NORTH,    L.  H.  D. 

Honored  and  Beloved 

In  Remembrance  of  the  Twentieth  Reunion 

OF  the 

Class  of  1873 

Hamilton  College 

This  Volume  is  Inscribed 


PREFACE 


At  the  memorial  services  on  the  reinterment  of  Isaac  Paris,  Prof. 
Edward  North,  l.  h.  d.,  of  Hamilton  College,  expressed  the  follow- 
ing sentiment:  "After  this  day's  memorial  has  been  completed,  an 
effort  should  be  made  to  find  the  lost  grave  of  Rev.  Samson  Occum, 
whose  fame  as  a  fervid  Indian  preacher  lives  in  the  early  history  and 
traditions  of  Oneida  county."  These  words  came  to  the  author's 
notice  as  he  was  examining  a  portion  of  Occom's  diary  among  the 
manuscripts  of  the  Connecticut  Historical  Society.  In  this  he  found 
reasons  to  believe  that  an  Indian  cemetery  was  located  on  the  farm  of 
Occom's  brother-in-law,  David  Fowler,  where  most  naturally  the 
famous  Mohegan  would  rest.  A  class  reunion  shortly  afterwards 
made  it  convenient  to  visit  Deansville,  N.  Y.,  June  20,  1893,  when 
the  early  burial-place  of  the  Christian  Indians  was  discovered.  Out 
of  the  interest  then  kindled  this  volume  has  grown. 

Samson  Occom  will  always  be  regarded  as  the  most  famous  Chris- 
tian Indian  of  New  England.  Hitherto  he  has  been  but  dimly  known. 
Herein  we  have  written  the  story  of  his  life,  woven  as  it  is  into  Indian 
history,  and  particularly  into  the  fortunes  of  that  tribe  which  he 
created  and  named.  We  are  able  thus  to  follow  these  Indians  in  de- 
tail from  barbarism  along  the  trail  of  civilization  for  a  century  and 
three  quarters,  an  opportunity  which  is  afforded  by  no  other  North 
American  Indians. 

Our  historical  resources  have  been  almost  wholly  unprinted 
manuscripts.  These  are  widely  scattered,  and  in  some  cases  have 
been  unexplored  by  historians.  We  name  them  that  others  may  be 
spared  our  pains :  Wheelock  Papers,  Occom's  Diaries,  Whitaker 
Papers  and. Sergeant's  Journals— Dartmouth  College  Library;  Indian 
Papers,  including  manuscripts  of  Samson  Occom  and  Joseph  Johnson, 
Mohegan  and  William  Samuel  Johnson  Papers— Connecticut  Histori- 
cal Society;  Records  of  the  Society  for  Propagating  the  Gospel— 
N.  E.  Hist,  and  Gen.   Societv,  Boston;   Town,   Court,  and  Supcrin- 


VI  PREFACE 

tendent's  Records  of  the  Brothertown  Indians,  Brothertown,  Wis.  ; 
Letters  and  Journals  of  Samuel  Kirkland— Mr.  Thornton  K.  Lothrop, 
Boston;  Stiles  MSS. — Yale  College  Library;  Records  of  the  Suffolk 
and  Albany  Presbyteries;  Connecticut  Archives,  Hartford;  Massa- 
chusetts Archives,  Boston;  New  York  Archives,  Albany;  Trumbull 
Papers — Massachusetts  Historical  Society  and  Connecticut  Historical 
Society;  Solomon  Williams^  Letters — Mrs.  B.  E.  Hooker,  Hartford; 
Town  Records — Farmington,  Montville,  New  London,  Groton,  Ston- 
ington.  Conn.,  Charlestown,  R.  I.,  etc.  ;  Land  Kecords,  Utica,  N.  Y.  ; 
and  other  sources  less  important.  Such  references  have  been  given  as 
may  be  most  helpful,  but  the  evidence  on  many  facts  in  the  narrative 
could  not  be  cited.  To  all  who  have  rendered  their  courteous  assist- 
ance we  make  acknowledgment,  and  especially  to  the  Brothertown 
Indians,  in  whose  homes  many  items  have  been  gathered. 

It  may  seem  to  some  that  an  Indian  genealogy  is  more  a  curiosity 
than  a  contribution  to  history.  Even  so,  it  is  not  every  tribe  that 
can  furnish  such  evidence  that  it  is  of  the  pure  blood,  which,  in  a 
study  of  Indian  civilization,  is  essential.  We  have  by  means  of  it, 
however,  condensed  many  facts  of  tribal  and  town  history,  identified 
families  of  Indians  whose  names  the  student  will  meet  with  in  records, 
added  notes  which  would  have  cumbered  the  text  of  our  narrative,  and 
perhaps  rendered  some  service  in  establishing  the  property  rights  of 
many  in  the  tribal  inheritance.  May  we  not  also  hope  that  such  a 
record  will  quicken  the  conserving  influences  within  the  tribe  and 
help  them  on  into  an  honorable  future? 

W.   D.    L. 

Hartford,  Conn.. 
October,  i8qq. 


CONTENTS 


CHAPTER   I 

THE    NEW    ENGLAND    FATHERS   AND    INDIAN    CIVILIZATION 
162O-1723 

The  Civilization  of  the  Indian  a  Problem. — A  Missionary  Purpose  in 

all   Puritan  Charters. — It  is  Adopted  by  our  Forefathers. — Their 

Plan    to  Civilize. — The    Evangelizing    Method. — Eliot's    Indian 

Town.— His  Educational  Work.— The  Seed  Scattered  Abroad. 

First  Century  of  Indian  Missions 

CHAPTER  II 

A    MOHEGAN    YOUTH 

1 7 23- 1 749 
Samson  Occom  of  Mohegan. — Early  Attempts  to  Christianize  his 
Tribe. — The  Visit  of  Experience  Mayhew.— A  School  Estab- 
lished.— Influences  from  Natick.— Ben  Uncas  and  his  Son.— 
North"  Church,  of  New  London.—"  The  Great  Awakening."— 
.Conversion  of  Occom.— Eleazar  Wheelock.— The  Indian  at 
School      

CHAPTER  III 

THE    INDIAN    TEACHER   AT    MONTAUK 

1.7  49-1 761 

The  Montauk  Indians.— A  Schoolmaster  and  his  Salary.— Successful 
Methods.— Occom's  Religious  Work.— Hardships  of  Wigwam 
Life.— A  License  to  Preach.— The  Cherokee  Mission.— Ordina- 
tion as  a  Presbyterian  Minister.— His  Marriage  to  Mary  Fowler. 
—Some  Good  Fruits  of  his  Work  at  Montauk       .... 

vii 


VI 11  CONTENTS 

Mt 

CHAPTER  IV 

WHEELOCK'S    INDIAN    CHARITY    SCHOOL 

I754-I77O 

Wheelock's  Plan  to  Educate  Indian  Missionaries. — Two  Pupils  Ar- 
rive at  Lebanon. — Prospects  of  Support. — The  Gift  of  Joshua 
More, — Missionary  Headquarters  on  a  Connecticut  Hilltop. — 
Joseph  Johnson. — David  Fowler. — Pupils  from  the  Mohawk  and 
Oneida  Tribes. — New  England  Indians  at  the  School. — Death  of 
Tobias  Shattock. — Samuel  Ashbow 56 

CHAPTER  V 

OCCOM's    MISSIONS   TO   THE    ONEIDA    INDIANS 
I761-I764 

Missions  among  the  Six  Nations. — "Good  Peter." — Occom's  Call  to 
Service. — Departure  of  the  First  Missionaries. — An  Indian's 
Diary. — The  Oneidas  Receive  the  Gospel. — A  Second  Mission. 
— Wheelock's  Memorial  to  the  Connecticut  Assembly. — Corre- 
spondents of  the  Scotch  Society. — Occom's  Appointment  Among 
the  New  England  Indians. — His  House  at  Mohegan     ...         82 

CHAPTER  VI 

SAMUEL    KIRKLAND   AND    HIS    INDIAN    FRIENDS 
1 765-1 768 

Samuel  Kirkland  Goes  to  the  Senecas. — Indian  Schoolmasters  Sent 
Out  from  Lebanon. — David  Fowler,  the  Teacher  at  Kanawa- 
rohare. — Trials  Among  the  Heathen. — Some  of  his  Letters. — 
.  A  "  Missing  Rib  "  Found. — Kirkland  and  Fowler  Among  the 
Oneidas. — The  Cabin  of  a  Missionary. — Famine  in  the  Land. — 
Kirkland  is  Rescued  by  his  Indian  Friend 105 

CHAPTER  VII 

THE    MOHEGAN    LAND   CASE   AND    SAMSON    OCCOM 
I  764-1769 

Failure  of  a  Westward  Mission. — The  "  Mason  Controversy." — Posi- 
tion of  an  Indian  Councilor. — Robert  ClelUpd,  the  Schoolmaster 
at  Mohegan. — Jealousy  of  David  Jewett. — Occom's  Opinions 
Offend  the  Whites. — A  Meeting  of  the  Connecticut  Correspond- 
ents.— The  Indian  is  Reproved. — Jewett's  Retraction  .         .         .119 


CONTENTS  ix 

CHAPTER  VIII 

THE    INDIAN    PREACHER    IN    ENGLAND 
I765-I76S 

Whitefield's  Project  to  Assist  the  Indian  Charity  School. — Nathaniel 
Whitaker  to  Accompany  Occom. — Opposition  from  the  IJoston 
Commissioners. — Talents  of  the  Indian  Preacher. — Arrival  in 
England. — Occom  in  Whitefield's  Tabernacle. — He  Creates  a 
Sensation  and  Sees  the  Sights. — Some  Notable  Friends. — Atti- 
tude of  the  Church  of  England. — Success  in  Scotland. — The 
"Trust  Fund." — Opinions  Favorable  to  Occom. — Portraits  of 
the  Indian  Preacher i  30 

CHAPTER    IX 

DARK    DAYS   AT    MOHEGAN 

1768-I77I 

Samson  Occom's  Disappointment. — His  Family  Trials. — Wheelock 
is  Reproved  for  Neglect. — Removal  of  the  School  to  Hanover. — 
The  Indians  are  Offended  at  their  Patron. — Occom's  Fall  into 
Intemperance. — Examined  and  Acquitted  by  the  Suffolk  Pres- 
bytery.— His  Subsequent  Reputation. — Some  Indian  Prodigals 
Return 152 

CHAPTER    X 

occom's   sermon,    HYMNS   AND    HYMN    F.OOK 

177^-1774 

Moses  Paul  Executed  at  New  Haven. — Occom's  Sermon  on  Intem- 
perance.— His  Utterance  on  Slavery. — Singing  among  the  Indi- 
ans.— Hymn-writers  among  Occom's  Friends. — "A  Choice  Col- 
lection of  Hymns  and  Spiritual  Songs." — "  Indian  Melodies."— 
Some  Hymns  ascribed  to  Occom. — "Awak'd  by  Sinai's  .Awful 
Sound" '69 

CHAPTER    XI 

SEVEN    SETTLEMENTS   OF   CHRI.STIAN    INDIANS 
I717-I776 

The  Tribes  of  Southern  New  England.— Early  Mi.ssions  among  the 
Narragansetts.  — Joseph  Park  and  Samuel  Niles.  —  Edward 
Deake  and  his  School. — The  Groton  Pequots.— Instruction  of 
the  Stonington  Indians.— Work  among  the  Niantics.— Christian- 


X  CON-TENTS 

izing  the  Natives   at  Farmington. — The  School  at  Montauk. — 
Later  Missions  at  Mohegan i88 

CHAPTER   XII 

THE    PLAN    OF    EMIGRATION   TO    ONEIDA 
I77I-I776 

Occom's  Design  to  Unite  the  Christian  Indians. — Missionary  Purpose 
in  the  Emigration. — Joseph  Johnson  Enlisted  in  the  Service. — 
He  Secures  Lands  at  Oneida. — Adoption  of  the  New  England 
Indians. — Wheelock  Approves  the  Plan. — Departure  of  the  Emi- 
grants.— The  Revolutionary  War. — Influence  of  the  Christian 
Indians  Over  the  Oneidas. — The  Messenger  of  Washington. — 
Occom's  Plea  for  Neutrality. — Death  of  Joseph  Johnson      .         .       207 

CHAPTER   XIII 

INDIAN    FRIENDS   AT    STOCKliRIDGE 
I734-I783 

The  Emigrants  Retreat  to  Stockbridge. — Missions  among  the  Housa- 
tonic  Tribe. — Labors  of  John  Sergeant. — Defect  of  His  Plan. — 
Stockbridge  Indians  in  the  Revolution. — Three  Prominent  Coun- 
cilors.— Experiences  of  the  Refugees. — They  Influence  Their 
Friends  to  Emigrate. — Lands  Secured  from  the  Oneidas      .         .       231 

CHAPTER   XIV 

THE    MISSIONARY   OF  THE   WILDERNESS 
I783-I789 

The  Return  to  Oneida. — Indian  Pilgrims  Set  Sail  from  New  Lon- 
don.— Occom  in  Charge  of  the  Removal. — His  Visit  to  Oneida 
in  1785. — The  Founding  of  Brothertown. — Preaching  to  the 
Stockbridge  and  New  England  Indians. — Another  Visit  to  His 
People. — Jacob  Fowler's  Death. — The  Season  of  1787. — Oc- 
com's Own  Removal.— His  Ministry  in  New  Settlements. — An 
Indian  Presbyterian  Church 247 

CHAPTER   XV 

THE   TRIALS    OF    OCCOM'S    LAST    DAYS 
I785-I792 

Occom's  Views  on  Indian  Civilization. — Educated  Indians  at  Brother- 
town. — The  Defense  of  their  Title. — Factional  Disputes. — Eject- 


CONTENTS  XI 

ing  Trespassers. — Action  of  the  New  York  Assembly. — A  Vic- 
tory for  the  Indians.  —  The  Death  of  Samson  Occom. — His 
Funeral  and  the  Place  of  His  Burial 283 

CHAPTER    XVI 

INDIAN   TOWN    GOVERNMENT 
I785-1842 

The  Connecticut  Town  their  Model. — Appointment  of  Superintend- 
ents.— Indian  Peacemakers. — Laws  of  their  Town. — Progress 
in  Agriculture. — Public  Improvements. — Religious  Affairs  after 
Occom's  Death. —  The  Superintendents  Select  an  Agent. — 
Thomas  Dean  and  His  Services 299 

CHAPTER   XVII 

THE   LAST    REMOVE 
I 809-1 898 

The  Embassy  of  Hendrick  Aupaumut — Failure  of  the  White  River 
Enterprise. — Eleazar  Williams. — Lands  Secured  in  Wisconsin. — 
"New  York  Indians  vs.  the  United  States." — A  Claim  to  Honor. 
— Emigration  to  the  West. — The  New  Indian  Settlement. — Or- 
ganization and  Experiences. — The  Last  Stand  of  the  New  Eng- 
land Indians 316 


APPENDIX 
Family  History  of  the  Brothertown  Indians 335 


ILLUSTRATIONS 


Picture  of  Samson  Occoni Frontispiece 

Samson    Occom's    House   at    Mohegan   and   the    Mohegan 

Chapel,  1831 Page  102 

Facsimile  of  the  Title  Page  of  Occom's  Hymn  Book  and 

Indian  Melodies "  180 

The  Narragansett  Church "  194 

Map  of  Brothertown         ........  "  334 

Burial-place  of  the  Christian  Indians "  298 

Headmen  of  the  Brothertown  Indians ••  330 


SAMSON  OCCOM 


CHAPTER    I 

THE    NEW    ENGLAND    FATHERS    AND    INDIAN    CIVILIZATION 
1620-1723 

The  civilization  of  the  American  Indians,  to  whom  our  land 
from  sea  to  sea  once  belonged,  is  an  endeavor  nearly  three 
centuries  old.  At  no  time  since  the  forefathers  came  to  New 
England  have  they  or  their  descendants  been  wholly  unmind- 
ful of  this  obligation.  Heroic  lives  have  been  devoted  to  evan- 
gelizing the  Indians,  teachers  have  sought  to  educate  them, 
laws  have  been  enacted  in  their  behalf,  and  a  paternal  govern- 
ment has  expended  vast  sums  in  their  maintenance.  Although 
the  results  of  all  wisely  ordered  efforts  have  been  better  than 
is  generally  supposed,  the  ultimate  issue  is  still  undetermined. 
There  seem,  indeed,  to  be  some  reasons  for  believing  that  the 
race  itself  is  gradually  dying  away  toward  the  setting  sun. 

All  the  movements  of  this  extended  period  have  been  due 
primarily  to  the  spirit  of  Christian  missions,  to  the  histories  of 
which  we  leave  what  more  particularly  exhibits  the  achieve- 
ments of  religion.  We  purpose  rather  to  treat  the  subject  as 
a  problem  of  civilization.  It  has  always  been  recognized  as 
such.  The  main  inquiry  has  been  whether  the  Indian  is  capa- 
ble of  being  permanently  established  in  the  ways  of  civilized 
life;  and,  if  so,  what  conditions  will  best  accomplish  this  end. 
He  has  been  known  in  our  literature  chiefly  as  a  savage. 
What    may  he   become   if   he   is   Christianized,   brought    into 


2  SAA/SOA^  OCCOM 

church  estate,  educated  in  industrial  pursuits,  invested  with 
rights  in  the  land  which  supports  him,  and  trusted  with  the 
responsibilities  of  government?  Historical  studies  may  throw 
some  light  upon  this  problem  by  tracing  the  experiences  of  a 
tribe  which  was  collected  from  the  Christian  remnants  in  New 
England  and  has  been  seasoned  in  the  beneficent  influences 
of  generations,  traversing  the  distance  from  heathenism  to 
American  citizenship. 

The  Indian  missions  of  New  England  during  the  first  cen- 
tury furnish  an  interesting  story  which  has  been  often  told. 
We  would  call  the  reader's  attention  to  the  noble  purpose  of 
the  fathers  and  the  methods  by  which  they  hoped  to  accom- 
plish the  civilization  of  the  Indian,  as  seen  in  the  facts  else- 
where stated  by  many  historians.^  An  examination  of  the  case 
seems  to  us  to  show  more  creditable  aims,  plans  and  results 
than  we  have  been  led  by  some  writers  to  suppose.  Especi- 
ally is  some  review  of  this  period  desirable,  because  the  work 
of  the  second  century,  in  which  Samson  Occom  was  engaged, 
was  the  later  harvest  of  this  early  seed-sowing. 

One  of  the  aims  of  the  New  England  fathers  in  crossing  the 
sea  was  the  conversion  of  the  natives  to  Christianity.  Some 
writers  have  made  much  of  this  well-known  fact,  and  have 
brought  against  them  a  charge  of  neglecting  this  labor 
throughout  the  early  years  of  their  settlement.  The  truth  is, 
they  deserve  high  praise  for  adopting  such  a  philanthropic  pur- 
pose when  it  was  suggested  to  them.  Those  who  have  cited 
the  language  of  their  charters,  as  though  they  made  preten- 
sions which  were  soon  forgotten,  have  misjudged  the  fact. 
This  profession  was  not  peculiar  to  them.  All  charters  of  the 
time  contained  it.  The  letters  patent  which  King  James  gave 
to  the  Virginia  Company,  April  lo,  1606,  based  the  privileges 

1  See  especially  Dr.  J.  Hammond  Trumbull's  article  on  "  The  Origin  and  Early 
Progress  of  Indian  Missions  in  New  England." — Avt.  A^itiq.  Soc.  Proc,  No.  LXI, 
pp.  16  ff. 


NE  W  ENGLAND  FA  THERS— INDIAN  CI  VI LIZ  A  TION      3 

granted  upon  their  undertaking  "  a  work  which  may,  by  the 
Providence  of  Almighty  God.  hereafter  tend  to  the  glory  of  his 
Divine  Majesty,  in  propagating  of  Christian  religion  to  such 
people  as  yet  live  in  darkness  and  miserable  ignorance  of  the 
true  knowledge  and  worship  of  God,  and  may  in  time  bring  the 
infidels  and  savages  living  in  those  parts  to  human  civility 
and  to  a  settled  and  quiet  government."^  In  the  Virginia 
charters  of  1609  and  1611-12,  the  same  design  is  an- 
nounced.^ A  sermon  was  preached  before  these  adventurers, 
April  25,  1609,  by  Rev.  William  Symondes  of  Southwarke,  the 
Epistle  Dedicatory  of  which  is  addressed  to  the  "right  noble 
and  worthie  Advancers  of  the  Standard  of  Christ  among  the 
Gentiles."  When  a  similar  discourse  was  delivered  by  Rev. 
William  Crashaw,  February  21,  1609-10,  on  the  departure  of 
Lord  De  La  Warre,  the  governor  was  admonished  to  remem- 
ber that  he  was  going  to  commend  religion  to  the  heathen. 
The  Virginians  subsequently  undertook  this  work,  but  the 
desire  was  never  sufficiently  strong  in  their  religious  life  to 
make  it  successful.  The  great  patent  of  New  England,  dated 
November  3,  1620,  has  been  repeatedly  quoted  as  though  it 
contained  unusual  missionary  pretensions.  In  that  the  king 
declared  that  "the  principall  effect  which  we  can  desire  or 
expect  of  this  action,  is  the  conversion  and  reduction  of  the 
people  in  those  parts  into  the  true  worship  of  God  and  Chris- 
tian religion."  This  precise  language,  however,  is  found  in 
the  Virginia  charter  of  1609,  from  which  we  may  suppose  it 
was  taken.  The  Massachusetts  Bay  charter,  dated  March  4, 
1628-29,  directed  that  the  people  "male  be  soe  religiously, 
peaceablie  and  civilly  governed  as  their  good  life,  and  order- 
lie  conversacon  maie  wynn  and  incite  the  natives  of  the  coun- 
try to  the  knowledg  and  obedience  of  the  onlie  true  God  and 
Savior   of   mankinde   and   the   Christian    fayth,  which,  in   our 

2  Charters  atid  Constitutions,  II,  188S. 
i  Ibid.,  II,  1902. 


4  S A  A/so  AT  OCCOM 

royall  intencon  and  the  adventurers  free  profession,  is  the 
principall  ende  of  this  plantacon."  But  this  language  should 
be  interpreted  in  the  light  of  the  fact  that  several  other  nearly 
contemporary  patents  contain  like  expressions.  This  was,  then, 
a  common  article  in  the  emigrant's  creed.  It  meant  more  or 
less  according  to  his  character.  The  late  Dr.  J.  Hammond 
Trumbull,  to  whom  every  writer  on  the  Indian  must  be 
indebted,  has  called  attention  to  Thomas  Thorowgood's  state- 
ment in  his  tract  on  the  "  Jewes  in  America,"  which  sum- 
marizes the  facts  thus:  "The  mutuall  and  interchangeable 
fact  and  covenant  of  donor  and  receiver  is,  in  all  those  char- 
ters and  patents,  the  conversion  of  the  heathen."  The  dis- 
tinguishing characteristic,  therefore,  of  the  New  England  col- 
onists was  not  in  unusual  pretensions  made  in  their  charters. 
We  shall  see  that  it  was  rather  in  the  sincerity  of  this  profes- 
sion and  their  earnestness  in  endeavoring  to  fulfil  it. 

The  missionary  purpose  was  grafted  into  the  life  of  the 
Pilgrims.  The  works  of  their  leader,  John  Robinson,  exhibit 
only  the  remotest  interest  in  the  evangelization  of  the  heathen. 
Ecclesiastical  freedom  was  his  uppermost  thought.  But  so 
early  as  1617,  when  they  were  contemplating  emigration  under 
the  auspices  of  the  Virginia  Company,  and  very  likely  because 
they  had  noted  the  above  clauses  in  the  charter,  the  Pilgrims 
declared  their  intention  of  crossing  the  sea  "that  they  might 
be  means  of  replanting  the  Gospel  amongst  the  heathen."^ 
One  of  their  enemies  had  suggested  in  ridicule  that  they 
"remove  to  Virginia  and  make  a  plantation  there  in  hope  to 
convert  infidels  to  Christianity,"  but  they  had  adopted  this 
purpose  in  earnest.  Thus  they  made  fast  to  what  had  been 
only  a  stereotyped  expression  in  the  ventures  of  those  Puritan 
times.  As  they  thereafter  pondered  over  the  matter,  the  idea 
was  strengthened  within  them.  It  is  frequently  referred  to  in 
their  writings.     Bradford  mentions  it  among  their  reasons  for 

<  Hanbury's  Historical  Memorials^  I,  36S. 


NE IV  ENGLAND  FA  THERS— INDIAN  CI VI LIZA  TION      5 

removal,  thus:  "Lastly  (and  which  was  not  least),  a  great 
hope  &  inward  zeall  they  had  of  laying  some  good  founda- 
tion, or  at  least  to  make  some  way  therunto,  for  ye  propagat- 
ing &  advancing  ye  gospell  of  ye  kingdom  of  Christ  in  those 
remote  parts  of  ye  world ;  yea,  though  they  should  be  but 
even  as  stepping-stones  unto  others  for  ye  performing  of  so 
great  a  work."  ^ 

The  Puritans  of  the  Massachusetts  Bay  Colony  adopted  the 
same  design.  They  put  life  into  a  formal  profession.  As 
their  governor  was  pledged  by  his  oath  to  this  work,  he 
reminded  the  colonists  of  their  obligation  in  his  instructions. 
*'  That  these  pledges  might  be  had  in  perpetual  remembrance," 
says  Dr.  Trumbull,  "on  the  seal  provided  in  England  for  the 
colony,  an  Indian  with  extended  hands  raised  the  Macedonian 
cry,  '  Come  over  and  help  us.'  "  These  New  England  col- 
onists should  be  credited,  therefore,  with  an  extraordinary 
reception  of  the  missionary  impulse.  They  committed  them- 
selves to  an  enterprise  which  had  so  engaged  no  other  emi- 
grants of  the  time.  The  utterances  of  earlier  charters  were 
taken  into  their  hearts  and  lives  with  all  the  solemnity  of  a 
creed. 

It  has  been  asserted  also  that  the  forefathers  wholly 
neglected  this  work  for  a  score  of  years.  Here  again  they 
have  been  misjudged.  The  error  arises  from  an  ignorance  of 
the  particular  method  by  which  they  hoped  to  civilize  the 
Indian.  The  plan  adopted  was  the  one  then  current,  and 
just  what  we  should  expect  the  Puritan  life  to  depend  upon — 
that  of  winning  the  heathen  by  the  exhibition  of  their  civi- 
lization and  Christian  institutions.  Robert  Cushman  put  it 
thus:  "To  displaie  the  efficacie  &  power  of  the  Gospell 
both  in  zealous  preaching,  professing,  and  wise  walking  vnder 
it,  before    the    faces  of  these    poore  blinde    Infidels."      The 

^  Bradford's  Hist.,  p.  24.  See  also  Young's  Chronicles  of  the  Pilgrims,  pp.  243, 
257,  258,  271,  274,  328,  329,  339  n.,  383. 


6  SAAfSOA^  OCCOM 

opinion  then  prevailed  that  it  was  necessary  to  reduce  the 
natives  to  some  measure  of  "  civility "  ere  they  could  be 
Christianized.  The  later  method  of  evangelization  was  not 
contemplated.  It  was  not  in  discussion  until  about  1640. 
The  forefathers  had  prominently  in  mind  the  giving  up  of  a 
wandering  life  in  the  forest,  the  acquisition  of  the  English 
language,  and  an  education  in  the  customs  of  civilized 
society.  Hence,  the  main  feature  of  their  plan  was  the 
training  of  Indian  youth  in  the  Puritan  household. 

In  1618  the  Virginians,  with  similar  opinions,  had  under- 
taken this  method  of  bringing  native  children  to  "true  religion, 
moral  virtue,  and  civility,"  Their  first  legislative  assembly 
the  year  following  ordered  that  every  plantation  should 
procure  such  youth  by  just  means  for  this  purpose.  This 
plan  was  explicitly  approved  in  England.  No  one  there 
had  thought  of  any  better,  not  even  those  who  afterwards 
charged  New  England  with  neglect.  It  was,  indeed,  a  very 
sensible  procedure,  which  has  never  since  been  outgrown, 
and  the  only  method  possible  in  the  early  years  of  the  col- 
onies. The  Pilgrims  began  with  Squanto  and  Hobomok, 
both  of  whom  died  "leaving  some  good  hopes."  Winslow 
declared  that  they  had  special  interest  in  providing  tutors 
for  the  Indian  children  of  both  sexes.  So  early  as  162 1,  when 
Cushman  w^as  at  Plymouth,  they  were  entertaining  great  ex- 
pectations in  this  direction,  as  we  may  infer  from  these  words 
concerning  the  "  younger  sort  "  :  "  If  we  had  means  to  apparel 
them,  and  wholly  to  retain  them  with  us,  as  their  desire  is, 
they  would  doubtless  in  time  prove  serviceable  to  God  and 
man,  and  if  ever  God  send  us  means,  we  will  bring  up  hun- 
dreds of  their  children,  both  to  labor  and  learning."^  Among 
the  Puritans  of  the  Bay  Colony  this  same  plan  was  in  mind  as 
most  feasible.  Governor  Cradock,  in  his  letter  to  Endicott, 
Feb.  19,  1628-29,  when  he  reminded  him  of  this  end   of  their 

'••  Young's  Chron.  of  the  Pilgrims,  p.  260. 


NE  W  ENGLAND  EA  THE RS— INDIAN  CIVILIZA  TION      7 

plantation,  wrote  thus  :  "  Endeavour  to  get  some  of  their  chil- 
dren to  train  up  to  reading  and  consequently  to  religion  whilst 
they  are  young."  This  was  done,  so  far  as  it  was  possible,  in 
both  colonies  and  more  generally  than  has  been  supposed. 
Winthrop  informs  us  that  this  disposition  was  made  of  the 
captives  in  the  Pequot  war  :  "  Ye  women  tSc  maid  children  are 
disposed  aboute  in  ye  towns."  At  a  later  time  the  youth  were 
apprenticed  by  law  to  the  English.  Many  who  were  able  had 
Indian  servants  in  their  households,  where  daily,  painstaking 
religious  instruction  was  given  after  the  Puritan  custom.  The 
results  of  all  this  early  labor  are  dwelt  upon  with  satisfaction 
in  the  record  made  in  1642  of  "  New  England's  First  Fruits." 
A  better  summary  cannot  be  presented  than  is  there  given  : 
"  Divers  of  the  Indians  Children,  Boyes  and  Girles,  we  have 
received  into  our  houses,  who  are  long  since  civilized,  and  in 
subjection  to  us,  painfull  and  handy  in  their  businesse,  and  can 
speak  our  language  familiarly  ;  divers  of  whom  can  read  Eng- 
lish, and  begin  to  understand  in  their  measure,  the  grounds  of 
Christian  Religion  ;  some  of  them  are  able  to  give  us  account 
of  the  Sermons  they  heare,  and  of  the  word  read  and  ex- 
pounded in  our  Families."  This,  then,  was  the  early  scheme 
for  Christianizing  the  natives.  For  twenty  years,  whilst  the 
colonists  were  engaged  in  the  trials  incident  to  their  settle- 
ment, they  could  not  hope  for  more  than  this  plan  promised. 
The  results  in  many  known  instances  were  salutary.  It  was, 
moreover,  the  very  best  preparation  for  the  later  work.  Many 
Indians  became  well  acquainted  with  the  religion  and  life  of 
their  neighbors.  A  general  desire  was  awakened  among  them 
to  know  the  God  of  the  English  and  imitate  their  government 
and  institutions.  Those  who  knew  most  about  the  later  plan 
of  evangelization  affirmed  that  this  familiar  intercourse  in  the 
English  home  was  one  reason  for  their  subsequent  success. 

This   early   work  furthermore  promoted    an   interest  in  the 
acquisition  of  the  Indian  language.     Out  of  this  fact  the  later 


8  SAMSON  OCCOM 

movement  arose.  The  fathers  had  entertained  this  hope  from 
the  first,  but  they  had  not  imagined  its  outcome.  Francis  Hig- 
ginson  had  written  in  1629,  "We  purpose  to  learn  their  lan- 
guage as  soon  as  we  can,  which  will  be  a  means  to  do  them 
good."  "  Roger  Williams  within  a  few  years  went  to  lodge  in 
their  wigwams  that  he  might  ''  gain  their  tongue."  Some  dis- 
cussion soon  arose  as  to  whether  more  could  not  be  accom- 
plished by  a  new  plan  involving  the  use  of  the  native  lan- 
guage. Henry  Dunster,  the  president  of  the  college  at  Cam- 
bridge, was  urgent  in  advocating  this  novel  proposition.  In 
1641  Thomas  Lechford  wrote  of  him,  "  He  hath  the  platforme 

and  way  of  conversion  of  the  Natives  indifferent  right 

He  will"  make  it  good  that  the  way  to  instruct  the  Indians, 
must  be  in  their  owne  language,  not  English,  and  that  their 
language  may  be  perfected."  ^  This  idea,  notwithstanding 
some  opposition,  gained  in  favor.  John  Eliot  and  Thomas 
Mayhew  adopted  it  with  enthusiasm.  It  was  a  long  step  for- 
ward and  opened  the  way  to  a  new  type  of  Indian  civilization. 
The  evangelizing  method  then  became  possible.  Instead  of 
bringing  the  natives  into  the  colonists'  homes  to  be  Anglicized, 
it  sent  the  English  out  into  the  Indian  villages  to  teach,  and 
there  Christianity  could  work  out  a  civilization  in  the  natural 
environment  where  it  was  compelled  to  subsist.  The  study  of 
their  language  and  its  reduction  to  form  could  not  but  result, 
as  it  did,  in  the  translation  of  sundry  tracts  and  the  Bible 
itself  as  necessary  agencies  in  this  evangelization.  Thus  the 
work  which  Eliot  is  generally  thought  to  have  originated  was 
developed  out  of  a  previous  design  and  endeavor.  It  does 
not  detract  from  his  honors  as  the  "  Apostle  to  the  Indians  " 
to  say  that  he  was  himself  a  product  of  the  New  England  peo- 
ple. 'I'he  Puritan  in  heathendom  was  bound  to  be  a  mission- 
ary.     In   him  was  that  spirit,  that  love  for  education,  out  of 

'  Young's  Chron.  of  the  Pilgrims,  p.  258. 
^  Lechford's  Plain  Dealing,  p.  53. 


NEW  ENGLAND  FA  l^HERS— INDIAN  CI VI LIZA  TION      9 

which  civilization  was  certain  to  arise.  Others  were  affected 
as  Eliot  was  by  the  condition  of  the  savage  tribes  about  them  ; 
but  he  was  facile  priticeps  because  he  excelled  them  all  in 
comprehending  the  problem,  in  creating  adequate  agencies,  and 
in  missionary  zeal.  The  movement  was  general  and  except 
for  the  results  of  the  earlier  work  it  would  not  have  been  so 
successful. 

The  story  of  Eliot's  missionary  labors  is  familiar  to  all 
readers.  We  call  particular  attention  to  his  plan  and  its 
development.  He  began  about  1643,  it  is  supposed,  to  study 
the  Indian  language.  His  tutor  was  a  certain  Long  Island 
Indian,  a  captive  in  the  Pequot  war,  who  had  been  made  a 
servant  in  the  family  of  Mr.  Richard  Calicott  of  Dorchester.^ 
The  aforementioned  tract,  "New  England's  First  Fruits", 
was  published  in  England  that  same  year,  and  Roger  Will- 
iams' "Key  unto  the  Language  of  America"  appeared  a  few 
months  after  it.  This  revived  interest  manifested  itself  in 
1644,  by  the  action  of  the  General  Court,  ordering  that  the 
Indians  in  the  several  counties  be  "  instructed  in  the  know- 
ledge and  worship  of  God."  The  year  following  the  rever- 
end elders  were  explicitly  requested  to  consider  means  to 
this  end.  Thus  the  problem  was  thrust  upon  them,  and 
Eliot,  with  others,  had  it  under  consideration  some  months 
.before  he  began  his  mission. ^°  On  the  28th  of  October,  1646, 
he  went  to  Nonantum  with  several  others,  and  there  preached 
his  first  Indian  sermon  in  Waubun's  wigwam.  His  success 
probably  influenced  the  decision  of  the  ministers  in  favor  of 
the  new  plan.  At  that  visit  the  Indians  expressed  a  desire  to 
have  land  given  them  near  at  hand  that  they  might  "  build  a 
town  together,"  at  which  the  Englishmen  were  greatly  pleased 
and  promised  to  speak  for  them  to  the  General  Court.  That 
body  assembled  in  a  few  days   and   probably  upon   a  report 

0  See  Cockenoe-de-Long  Island,  by  W.  W.  Tooker. 
'0  Winthrop's  Hist.,  II,  326  ;    The  Day-Breaking,  etc.,  p.  3. 


lO  SAMSON  OCCOM 

from  the  reverend  elders,  supplemented  by  a  second  visit, 
took  important  action  in  the  matter,  "  Considering  yt  inter- 
pretation of  tongues  is  an  appointment  of  God  for  propagat- 
ing the  truth,"  it  was  ordered  that  two  ministers  be  chosen 
annually  "to  make  knowne  ye  heavenly  counsell  of  God 
among  ye  Indians."  A  law  was  passed  prohibiting  their 
powwows,  which  the  elders  had  judged  to  be  great  obstacles 
to  their  conversion.  But  the  most  far-reaching  action  was 
the  appointment  of  a  committee  to  purchase  lands  for  the 
prospective  Indian  town,  where  Shepard,  Allen  and  Eliot 
should  advise,  and  make  rules  for  improving  and  enjoying  the 
same.  The  Indians  of  Waubun's  company  were-  much  inter- 
ested in  this  project.  They  at  once  adopted  ten  laws  for  their 
moral  improvement.  The  lands  at  Watertown  Mill  were 
bought  and  there  at  Nonantum  the  first  experiment  was  made 
in  this  novel  plan  of  Indian  civilization. 

The  ultimate  design  of  John  Eliot  was  to  raise  up  native 
missionaries.  He  recognized  from  the  first  the  fact  that 
"God  is  wont  ordinarily  to  convert  nations  and  peoples  by 
some  of  their  own  countrymen  who  are  nearest  to  them,  and 
can  best  speak  and  most  of  all  pity  their  brethren."  In  order 
to  this,  however,  he  thought  it  necessary  riot  only  to  evan- 
gelize them  but  also  to  establish  them  in  the  ways  of  civilized 
life.  Hence  he  conceived  the  idea  of  a  jcommunity,  formed 
wholly  of  Christian  Indians,  and  in  a  measure  self-governing, 
where  educational,  industrial  and  religious  privileges  might 
hope  to  accomplish  most  in  a  favorable  environment.  This 
was  precisely  the  idea  upon  which  Samson  Occom  built,  more 
than  a  century  afterwards.  Eliot  found  the  natives  anxious 
to  imitate  the  civilization  of  the  whites.  The  plan  was  favor- 
able to  his  hopes  of  giving  them  a  Christian  literature.  So  he 
wisely  fostered  every  suggestion  the  natives  made  in  this 
direction,  and  the  General  Court  endorsed*  his  measures.  In 
1647  th^  magistrates  were  empowered  to  hold  quarterly  courts 


NE  W  ENGLAND  FA  THERS— INDIAN  CI VI LIZA  TION    1 1 

among  them,  and  their  sachems  were  authorized  "to  keep  a 
court  of  themselves  every  month  if  they  see  occasion,  to 
determine  small  causes  of  a  civil  nature,  and  such  smaller 
criminal  causes  as  the  said  magistrates  shall  refer  to  them."^^ 
Such  powers  would  have  been  dangerous  except  under  Eliot's 
leadership.  They  enabled  him  to  put  the  Indian  government 
in  the  hands  of  his  trusted  converts.  Schools  were  soon 
established.  The  children  were  regularly  catechized.  All 
their  industrial  ambitions  were  furthered.  The  men  began  to 
fence  their  fields  and  cultivate  them  after  the  English  manner. 
The  women  took  up  spinning.  Ttade  between  them  and  the 
whites  was  encouraged.  All  these  measures  wrought  together 
to  assist  Eliot  in  evangelizing  them.  He  correctly  judged  that 
the  results  of  such  a  colonizing  scheme  would  be  more  per- 
manent. 

The  experiment  at  Nonantum  had  not  been  two  years  under 
way  before  Eliot  discovered  that  an  enlargement  of  his  plan 
was  necessary.  The  grant  of  land  was  not  large  enough,  and 
it  was  too  near  the  English.  Moreover,  it  was  not  a  suitable 
place  to  gather  his  converts  from  other  native  villages  and 
tribes  in-to  the  Indian  town  which  had  come  to  be  his  ideal. 
This  latter  fact  was  important.  So  early  as  1649  his  original 
design  had  grown  to  a  hope  of  founding  a  community  where 
all  the  Christian  Indians  should  be  governed  after  the  theo- 
cratic ideal  of  the  Scriptures.  He  seems  to  have  been 
impressed  with  the  notion,  then  entertained  by  many,  that  the 
American  Indians  were  the  lost  tribes  of  Israel.  He  even 
thought  that  such  an  assembling  of  dry  bones  might  be  a  ful- 
filment of  prophecy.^^  At  all  events,  with  this  problem  in  view, 
he  sought  to  ascertain  what  form  of  government  was  approved 
in  the  Bible.     The  result  was  the  writing  soon  afterwards  of 

^^Mass.  Col.  Rec,  II,  i88;   The  Clear  Sunshine,  etc.,  pp.  15,  16,  28. 
12  The  Light   Appearing,  etc.,  pp.   23,  24  ;     Glorious  Progress,  etc.,  Appendix  ; 
Strength  out  of  IVeal-ness,  p.  10 


12  SAMSON  OCCOM 

that  condemned  book  entitled  "  The  Christian  Commonwealth," 
and  some  application  of  his  theory  among  the  Indians. ^^  In 
his  letters  he  declared  his  purpose  in  this  language:  "The 
present  work  of  God  among  them  is  to  gather  them  together 
to  bring  them  to  political  life,  both  in  ecclesiastical  society  and 
in  civil,  for  which  they  earnestly  long  and  enquire."  "Touch- 
ing the  way  of  their  government  ...  I  intend  to  direct 
them  according  as  the  Lord  shall  please  to  help  and  assist,  to 
set  up  the  kingdom  of  Jesus  Christ  fully,  so  that  Christ  shall 
reign  both  in  church  and  commonwealth,  both  in  civil  and 
spiritual  matters ;  we  will,  through  his  grace,  My  to  the  Scrip- 
tures for  every  law,  rule,  direction,  form,  or  whatever  we  do."  " 
His  project,  however,  was  delayed.  The  corporation  entitled 
"  The  President  and  Society  for  [the]  Propagation  of  the  Gos- 
pel in  New  England  "  was  constituted  by  act  of  Parliament 
July  27,  1649,^^  but  no  funds  were  then  at  hand  for  its  work. 

"3  See  preface  to  The  Christian  Commonwealth,  John  Eliot. 

^*  The  Light  Appearing,  etc.,  pp.  23,  28. 

15  The  following  societies,  all  of  which  were  engaged  in  Indian  missions,  have  been 
frequently  confounded:  (i)  The  corporation  entitled  "The  President  and  Society 
for  [the]  Propagation  of  the  Gospel  in  New  England  "  was  constituted  by  an  act  of 
the  Long  Parliament  in  1649.  The  commissioners  of  the  United  Colonies  were  its 
agents  in  New  England.  It  died  at  the  Restoration,  May  29, 1660.  (2)  "  The  Com- 
pany for  [the]  Propagation  of  [Propagating]  the  Gospel  [amongst  the  Heathen 
Natives  of]  in  New  England  and  the  Parts  Adjacent  in  America"  was  incorporated 
by  Charles  II,  February  7,  1661-2,  and  was  the  successor  of  the  former.  The  com- 
missioners of  the  United  Colonies  were  its  agents  until  1685,  after  which  a  Board  of 
Commissioners  at  Boston  was  constituted.  They  called  themselves  "  Commissioners 
of  the  Society  for  Propagating  the  Gospel  in  New  England."  This  was  also  called 
the  "London  Society."  It  cut  off  remittances  to  New  England  May  31,  1779, 
excepting  arrearages  and  the  Daniel  Williams  legacy,  which  was  paid  to  the  Presi- 
dent and  Fellows  of  Harvard  College  to  1787.  This  society  is  still  in  existence  as 
"  The  Mew  England  Company"  of  London,  and  conducts  Indian  missions  largely  in 
Canada.  (3)  The  "  Society  for  Promoting  Christian  Knowledge  "  was  formed  in 
England  in  1698.  It  sent  over  some  books  for  use  in  Indian  missions,  (4)  "The 
Society  for  the  Propagation  of  the  Gospel  in  Foreign  Parts  "  was  chartered  by  Will- 
iam III,  June  16,  1701.  This  was  a  sectarian  society  of  the  Church  of  England. 
It  conducted  some  Indian  missions  in  early  days  among  the  Oneidas.  See  David 
Humphreys'  Historical  Accou?tt,  etc.,  and  a  series  of  anniversary  sermons.     (5)   The 


NE  W  ENGLAND  EA  THERS— INDIAN  CI  VI LIZ  A  TION    1 3 

Eliot  consulted  the  ministers,  who  advised  him  to  proceed.  A 
tract  of  about  six  thousand  acres  was  decided  on  and  secured. 
In  the  spring  of  165 1,  the  town  was  laid  out  and  the  Indians 
with  great  zeal  began  the  work  of  construction.  They  named 
the  place  Natick.  On  the  6th  of  August,  the  Indians  met  and 
after  Eliot  had  expounded  the  eighteenth  chapter  of  Exodus, 
upon  which  his  theocratic  government  was  based,  they  elected 
their  rulers — one  over  a  hundred,  two  over  fifties,  and  ten  "  tith- 
ing men."  Each  Indian  chose  which  "  ruler  of  ten  "  he  would 
be  under.  The  24th  of  the  following  month  was  observed  by 
fasting  and  prayer,  and  toward  its  close  they  entered,  not  into 
a  church  estate,  as  some  have  supposed,  but  into  a  civil  coven- 
ant to  be  the  Lord's  people. ^^  Eliot  saw  thus  his  desire  real- 
ized as  to  their  government.  He  found,  however,  that  the 
form  of  it  was  impracticable.  It  was  not  adapted  to  Indian 
life.  A  ruler  in  civil  affairs,  which  their  tribal  instincts 
approved  and  the  General  Court  had  authorized,  was  all  that 
the  Indian  town  needed.  To  that  the  scheme  finally  came 
under  Eliot's  wise  guidance.  When  he  was  permitted  in  1660, 
after  years  of  patient  preparation  and  some  opposition,  to  form 
a  church  among  them,  the  ruler  and  the  religious  teacher  or 
pastor  became  the  two  sources  of  authority  in  their  Christian- 
ized   communities.     Meanwhile    the    movement    had    spread. 

"  Society  in  Scotland  for  Propagating  Cliristian  Knowledge  "  was  formed  in  1709. 
It  is  usually  called  the  "  Scotch  Society."  A  Board  of  Correspondents  at  Boston  was 
appointed  in  1730,  but  was  suspended  in  1737.  In  1756  it  was  revived  and  con- 
tinued operations  thereafter  for  many  years.  Another  Board  of  Correspondents  was 
constituted  at  New  York  in  1741,  which  in  1769  gave  place  to  a  board  composed  of 
the  trustees  of  the  College  of  New  Jersey  at  Princeton.  The  Connecticut  Board  of 
Correspondents  was  formed  at  Lebanon  July  4,  1764,  and  continued  in  existence 
about  five  years.  (6)  A  "Society  for  Propagating  Christian  Knowledge"  was 
incorporated  Feb.  11,  1762,  by  the  Massachusetts  government,  but  its  charter  was 
not  ratified  in  England  \^Acts  ajid  Resolves  of  Mass.,  iv  :  520-523].  (7)  "  The  Soci- 
ety for  Propagating  the  Gospel  among  the  Indians  and  others  in  North  America" 
was  incorporated  by  the  General  Court  of  Massachusetts,  November  19,  1787.  It  has 
conducted  various  Indian  missions  in  New  England,  New  York,  and  the  West. 
^^'  Strength  out  of  Weakness^  pp.  9-13. 


14 


SAMSON  OCCOM 


The  plan  of  Indian  town  government  had  been  adopted  by- 
Thomas  Mayhew  and  others.  Eliot  gave  up  the  idea  of 
gathering  all  the  Christian  Indians  at  Natick.  After  that 
model  other  towns  were  formed.  Industry  and  education 
advanced.  The  results  began  to  appear,  particularly  in  the 
work  of  the  converts  he  had  raised  up.  His  earlier  problems 
were  lost  to  view  in  the  greater  religious  success,  which  was 
always  his  main  purpose  and  which  won  for  him  the  merited 
title,  "Apostle  of  the  Indians." 

As  we  have  already  suggested,  the  educational  work  of  John 
Eliot  was  a  prominent  feature.  A  Puritan  could  not  do  other- 
wise than  make  it  such,  and  the  sequel  proved  his  wisdom. 
At  the  beginning  of  his  mission,  the  Indians  expressed  a  desire 
that  their  children  might  be  taught.  Some  of  them  were  given 
over  to  English  families  for  instruction  after  the  older  custom. 
Schools  were  established  under  white  masters.  It  soon  be- 
came evident,  however,  that  an  education  in  English  was  not 
best  adapted  to  his  purpose,  nor  easiest  for  the  Indian  children 
to  acquire.  He  was  preaching  to  them  in  the  Indian  lan- 
guage, and  he  felt  that  he  must  give  them  the  Bible  in  their 
native  tongue  and  they  must  be  taught  to  read  it.  This  he 
had  determined  upon  so  early  as  1649,  and  his  catechism  was 
printed  in  1653  or  1654.  Parts  of  the  Scriptures  followed, 
and  the  famous  "  Mamusse  Wunneetupanatamwee  Up-Biblum 
God  "  appeared  in  1663.  The  results  of  this  work  were  visi- 
ble from-  the  first.  Eliot  found  that  the  children  and  adults 
were  very  quick  to  learn  in  Indian.  Even  three  years  before 
the  whole  Bible  was  printed  about  one  hundred  of  his  Chris- 
tian Indians  had  been  taught  to  read.  His  helpers  were 
greatly  multiplied  and  some  from  the  older  towns  went  out  in 
a  humble  way  to  teach  other  tribes.  A  careful  examination 
of  the  progress  shows  that  this  Indian  literature  gave  a  new 
impetus  to  the  work.  The  greatest  success  came  during  the 
ten  years  following.     Eliot  was  moved   by  it,  furthermore,  to 


NE IV  ENGLAND  FA  THERS— INDIAN  CI VI LIZA  TION    1 5 

see  the  necessity  of  the  educated  Indian  teacher.  The  well- 
fitted  native  accomplished  more  than  the  inexperienced  Eng- 
lishman. In  1670  he  wrote,  "  And  seeing  they  must  have 
Teachers  amongst  themselves,  they  must  also  be  taught  to  be 
Teachers  ;  for  which  cause  I  have  begun  to  teach  them  the 
Art  of  Teaching,  and  I  find  some  of  them  very  capable. "^^ 

The  claim  has  been  made  that  the  Indian  Bible  was  of  no 
service  to  the  natives  because  it  was  not  intelligible.^^  One  of 
Eliot's  biographers  says,  "  It  failed  to  answer  the  pious  pur- 
pose for  which  the  translator  labored  in  preparing  it."^-'  Dr. 
Trumbull,  than  whom  no  one  was  more  competent  to  judge,  in 
answering  these  claims  has  given  this  opinion  :  ''  There  is 
abundant  evidence  that  many  of  the  praying  Indians  did 
acquire  the  art  of  reading  with  facility  books  printed  in  their 
language."-*^  We  emphasize  further  in  reply  this  fact:  it  was 
because  of  Eliot's  discovery  that  the  Indians  made  easy  prog- 
ress in  their  own  tongue  that  he  was  led  to  do  the  greater  part 
of  his  work  as  a  translator.  He  witnessed  the  good  results 
even  before  he  had  finished  his  Bible.  The  volume  was  not 
only  intelligible  to  the  Indians,  it  was  a  valuable  means  of 
spreading  his  work.  Whatever  permanent  quality  that  had 
was  largely  due  to  this  native  literature.  We  do  not  doubt 
that  more  good  would  have  been  accomplished  by  this  agency 
had  it  not  been  for  King  Philip's  War,  which  was  an  over- 
whelming disaster  to  the  Indian  missions  of  New  England. 

Most  writers  on  the  work  of  John  Eliot  have  seemed  to 
think  that  its  results  sank  away  like  water  in  desert  sands. 
Such  was  not  really  the  case.  The  stream  has  been  flowing 
onward  in^the  shadows  since  those  early  times.  Indians  are 
now   livins:   whose    enli^rhtened   estate   mav  be   attributed  re- 

''  Brief  Narrative,  etc.,  p.  5. 

18  North  American  Rev.,  Oct.,  i860. 

1"  Francis'  Life  of  Eliot,  pp.  237,  238. 

20  Am.  Antiq.  Soc.  Proc,  No.  LXI,  pp.  3;  ff. 


1 6  SAMSON  OCCOM 

motely  to  that  good  man  who  has  been  more  than  two  centu- 
ries in  his  grave.  As  his  settlements  of  praying  Indians  in  the 
Massachusetts  Bay  Colony  began  to  die  out,  the  seed,  scat- 
tered abroad,  sprang  up  in  other  places  where  it  was  nour- 
ished. 

The  Christian  influences  of  Nonantum  in  1647  spread  in 
three  directions,  northward,  westward  and  southward,  and  can 
be  followed  from  town  to  town."^^  Eliot's  first  convert,  Waubun, 
was,  says  Thomas  Shephard,  "  the  most  active  Indian  for  stir- 
ring up  other  Indians  to  seek  after  the  knowledg  of  God." 
He  is  known  to  have  carried  the  news  in  advance  of  Eliot  to 
several  distant  Indian  settlements.  Indeed,  the  work  so  wisely 
conducted  by  the  Mayhews  on  Martha's  Vineyard,  although  it 
may  have  had  an  independent  origin,  was  very  closely  associ- 
ated with  Eliot's  by  visitation  and  correspondence;  and  the 
success  in  the  Plymouth  Colony  and  on  Cape  Cod  was  due  to 
the  latter  rather  than  the  former.  To  the  northward  there 
arose  Nashobah  (Littleton)  and  Wamesit  (Lowell),  into  which 
those  at  the  upper  falls  of  the  Pawtucket  were  afterwards  gath- 
ered. The  latter  lived  until  the  uncivilized  Indians  joined  the 
St.  Francis  tribe  and  the  Christians  retreated  to  Natick. 
Thither  also  those  of  Concord  and  Sudbury  finally  came.  To 
the  westward  Christian  Indians  went  from  Natick  and  estab- 
lished a  town  at  Hassanamesit  (Grafton),  where  a  church  was 
formed  in  1671.  This  was  the  center  of  all  the  preaching  sta- 
tions in  that  vicinity — Okommakamesit  (Marlboro),  Pakachoag 
(Worcester),  and  VVaeuntug(Uxbridge) — until  in  King  Philip's 
War  they  were  all  swept  away  and  the  Christian  remnants  were 
absorbed  at  Natick  and  Dudley.  The  work  at  the  latter  place. 
Chabanakongkomun,    was  begun  in    1672,  by  Indians  of  the 

21  See  Series  of  "  Eliot  Tracts ; "  Daniel  Gookin's  Historical  Account,  etc.,  Ar- 
chceologia  Americana,  II,  423  ff;  Articles  on  "Early  Indian  Missions,"  by  Dr.  H,  M. 
Dexter,  in  The  Sabbath  at  Home,  1868;  Mass.  Hist.  Soc.ColL,  I,  vol.  x,  p.  129; 
Mather's  Magnalia,  1853,  II,  422  ff ;  and  MS.  Rec.  Soc.  for  Prop.  Cos.,  with  N.  E. 
Hist,  and  Gen.  Soc. 


NEIV  ENGLAND  FATHERS— INDIAN  CIVILIZATION    17 

Grafton  church.  It  survived  the  war,  took  in  that  at  Man- 
chaug  (Oxford),  and  other  abandoned  towns  westward,  and 
lived  under  the  labors  of  Revs.  Perley  How,  Charles  Gleason 
and  others  for  three  quarters  of  a  century.  Some  of  the  sur- 
vivors at  last  moved  southward  into  Connecticut  and  Rhode 
Island.  The  several  settlements  in  Woodstock,  Conn.,  Maa- 
nesit^  Quinnatesset  and  Wabquisset,  where  Eliot  visited  in 
1674,  were  absorbed  by  Connecticut  tribes  along  the  Thames 
river.  To  the  southward  Punkapoag  (Stoughton)  continued 
for  many  years  under  the  patronage  of  the  whites.  A  grand- 
son of  their  first  Indian  ruler  was  ministering  to  them  in  1729, 
and  a  few  remained  even  until  after  the  Revolution.  "At  Titi- 
cut  (Middleborough),  whither  Waubun  carried  the  gospel  in 
1648,  religious  privileges  were  maintained  for  nearly  a  cen- 
tury. They  had  a  succession  of  native  ministers  and  English 
lecturers.  Thither  Indians  from  surrounding  settlements 
gathered,  until  the  reduced  remnant  joined  the  south- 
ward movement  which  ended  at  Marshpee.  So  early  as 
1647  Eliot  made  a  journey  to  Yarmouth  and  visited  the 
Indians  on  Cape  Cod.  He  afterwards  sent  some  of  his 
converts  in  that  direction.  Within  a  few  years  Christian  set- 
tlements became  numerous  thereabouts.  Richard  Bourne 
labored  to  the  south  and  east  of  Sandwich  from  1666  to  his 
death  in  1685.  "  He  was  a  man  of  that  discernment,"  said 
Rev.  Gideon  Hawley,  "  that  he  considered  it  as  vain  to  propa- 
gate Christian  knowledge  among  any  people  without  a  terri- 
tory where  they  might  remain  in  place  from  generation  to  gen- 
eration." This  idea  resulted  in  the  Marshpee  reservation, 
where  in  time  the  surviving  Indians  of  the  Plymouth  Colony 
were  gathered.  After  him  Simon  Popmonet,  an  Indinn  min- 
ister, labored  in  the  same  field  for  nearly  forty  years.  He  was 
followed  in  turn  by  Joseph  Bourne,  Solomon  Briant,  an  Indian, 
Gideon  Hawley,  Phinehas  Eish,  and  William  Apes,  the  well- 
known    native    author  of  Marshpee.      Here   was,   therefore,   a 


1 8  SAMSON  OCCOM 

continuation  of  the  work  down  to  recent  times.  To  the  north 
and  west  of  Sandwich  Captain  Thomas  Tupper  began  mission- 
ary labors  about  1654,  which  he  carried  on  until  he  was  inca- 
pacitated by  old  age.  A  small  meeting-house  was  built  at  the 
expense  of  Samuel  Sewall  on  the  hill  east  of  Herring  River 
(Bournedale),  and  there  a  church  was  formed.  In  after  years 
his  grandson,  Eldad  Tupper,  and  .his  great-grandson,  Elisha 
Tupper,  were  ministers  to  the  Indians  there  and  throughout 
that  region.  Further  to  the  eastward  in  Eastham,  Samuel 
Treat  began  his  work  in  1672,  which  was  in  a  flourishing  con- 
dition twenty  years  later,  and  was  maintained  largely  by  native 
ministers  until  about  the  middle  of  the  next  century.  Here 
\yere,  therefore,  some  centers  in  which  the  missions  of  the 
fathers  survived  for  generations.  At  the  end  of  the  first  cen- 
tury there  were  in  the  old  fields,  not  including  Martha's  Vine- 
yard, "  twenty  or  thirty  congregations  of  Christianized  Indians, 
whereto  there  belong  some  thousand  souls.  These  had  ten 
English  preachers  who  gave  them  instructions  and  assistance, 
and  between  twenty  and  thirty  Indian  teachers  by  whom  the 
exercises  of  the  Lord's  Day  are  mostly  maintained." -^  The 
history  of  Natick,  which  is  so  familiar,  is  too  frequently  taken 
as  illustrating  the  permanent  value  of  that  early  work.  Greater 
success  attended  that  in  the  Plymouth  Colony.  It  did  not 
suffer  so  much  during  King  Philip's  War,  and  it  was  more  di- 
rectly under  the  supervision  of  white  ministers.  The  proximity 
of  Mayhew's  mission  on  the  islands  resulted  in  frequent  visita- 
tions of  zealous  Indian  ministers.  Their  lands,  too,  were  not 
so  generally  coveted  by  the  English,  and  they  were  out  of  the 
emigration  current  of  the  time.  This  made  greater  perma- 
nency possible.  The  Indians  of  Massachusetts  slowly  moved 
toward  the  south.  Some  who  had  been  born  at  Natick  left 
descendants  at  Marshpee.  The  mother  church  in  its  early 
years  was  constantly  giving  out   Indian   teachers  who  settled 

-'-India  Christiana^   p.  i"]  ;    Mather's  Early  History,  p.  xxxiii. 


A'EW  ENGLAND  FATHERS— INDIAN  CIVILIZATION 


19 


permanently  elsewhere,   and   it   therefore  deserves  an    honor 
which  its  later  history  would  not  suggest. 

It  is  difficult  to  measure  the  results  of  this  first  century 
movement  toward  civilization.  Still,  it  has  always  been  mis- 
judged because  the  accounts  of  it  after  King  Philip's  War 
are  not  so  detailed  or  familiar  as  those  of  earlier  times. 
Thousands,  however,  became  nominal  adherents  to  Chris- 
tianity. The  census  of  1674  numbers  these  as  about  four 
thousand  in  Massachusetts  and  Plymouth  colonies,  including 
those  under  Mayhew  on  Martha's  Vineyard  and  Nantucket. 
At  that  time  many  of  the  early  converts  had  died.  The 
ingathering  afterwards  in  missions  at  the  southward  was  con- 
siderable. A  careful  estimate,  based  upon  the  history  of 
individual  congregations  and  churches,  makes  the  number  of 
Christian  Indians  in  New  England  during  this  period  about 
seven  thousand.  Comparatively  few  of  these  became  church- 
members,  and  the  type  of  Christian  living  was  at  no  time  very 
high ;  but  they  were  reduced  to  law  and  order  and  dwelt 
together  in  peace.  Many,  of  course,  lapsed  into  intemperance, 
but  we  have  good  evidence  that  a  characteristic  of  the  Chris- 
tian Indian  was  that  he  sought  to  recover  himself.  On  the 
other  hand,  some  families  maintained  their  respectable  char- 
acter for  generations.  As  the  years  went  by,  their  numbers 
decreased  at  an  extraordinary  death-rate,  or,  in  the  words  of 
Cotton  Mather,  "by  a  strange  Blast  from  Heaven  confusing 
them."  During  the  first  half  of  the  eighteenth  century  they 
melted  away  like  snow^  in  the  springtime. 

The  methods  adopted  by  the  fathers  for  civilizing  the 
Indian  were  all  that  we  could  fairly  expect.  They  had  no 
experience  to  guide  them.  Such  missions  were  in  their 
infancy.  On  the  whole  their  efforts  met  with  a  success  which 
is  an  honor  to  their  piety,  wisdom  and  zeal.  In  the  endea\'ors 
of  this  first  century  we  have  in  the  germ  nearly  all  the  ideas 
which  have  since  been  developed  and  are  now  in   use.     The 


20  SAMSON  OCCOM 

fathers  considered  the  Christian  training  of  Indian  youth  as 
of  the  greatest  importance.  They  exalted  the  necessity  of 
education.  In  this  work  they  tried  both  the  separation  of  the 
native  from  his  heathen  environment  and  the  instruction  of 
the  tribal  schoolhouse.  One  of  their  fundamental  problems 
was  whether  the  Indian  should  remain  such  or  be  Anglicized. 
They  employed  both  the  English  and  the  Indian  languages. 
The  white  teacher  and  the  native  helper  were  both  known  to 
them.  They  recognized  the  value  of  industrial  pursuits  as 
adapted  to  bring  the  savage  into  the  ways  of  civilized  life. 
By  the  action  of  their  General  Court  the  reservation  was 
brought  into  existence.  There  Eliot  set  up  the  first  experi- 
ment in  Indian  self-government  after  the  customs  of  civiliza- 
tion. They  contended  with  the  difficulties  attending  the  hold- 
ing of  lands,  and  experienced  the  evils  of  government  aid. 
The  Indian  agent  was  one  of  their  creations.  All  which 
could  be  accomplished  by  the  missionary  in  evangelization 
they  attempted.  The  native  churches  which  they  founded 
were  not  unlike  many  that  have  since  existed.  Although  the 
fathers  were  by  no  means  above  reproach  in  their  treatment 
of  the  Indians,  they  did  much  in  the  ways  that  were  open  to 
them  to  fulfil  the  obligation  which  their  religion  prompted  and 
their  royal  charters  had  imposed. 


CHAPTER    II 

A    MOHEGAN    YOUTH 
1723-1749 

On  some  unknown  day  in  the  latter  part  of  the  seventeenth 
century,  an  Indian  of  the  Mohegan  tribe,  who  had  dwelt  in 
the  region  between  the  Shetucket  and  Quinebaug  rivers, 
moved  southward  and  set  up  his  wigwam  west  of  the  river 
Thames  in  the  vicinity  of  Uncas  Hill,  the  ancient  home  of  his 
sachem.  The  name  of  this  Indian,  as  given  in  a  document 
of  1738,  was  "  Tomockham  alias  Ashneon,"  and  he  was  the 
grandfather  of  Samson  Occom.^  At  this  time  the  tribe  had 
not  gathered  to  any  extent  in  villages.  In  1725  they  were 
said  to  number  351,  and  Jonathan  Barber  stated  in  1738  that 
there  were  then  only  19  males  above  16  years  of  age  who  lived 
at  Mohegan,  and  only  30  who  had  a  permanent  location  on 
the  Mohegan  lands.  Their  territory,  by  the  survey  of  1705,' 
had  for  its  corner  bounds  Lyme,  Stonington,  Pomfret  and 
Bolton.-^  Throughout  this  region  or  beyond  it  they  wandered 
in  the  avocations  of  the  forest  and  their  canoes  crossed  the 
waters  to  the  fishing-grounds  of  Montauk.  It  may  have  been 
some  fortune  of  war  which  led  to  this  removal  of  Tomockham. 

^The  earliest  written  form  of  this  ladian's  name  is  "Tomockham"  which  is  also 
spelled  "  Tomockam,"  "Tomocham,"  and  "  Tomocum.''  The  name  of  Occom's 
father  is  written  "  Joshua  x  Ockham,"'  "Joshua  x  Aucum  "  and  "  Joshua  x  Maw- 
cum."  Although  the  manuscripts  show  many  spellings  of  the  son's  name,  such  as 
Ockam,  Alcom,  Aukum,  Aucum,  Occum,  and  Aucom,  he  himself  wrote  it  Samson 
Occom.  As  the  name  "  Tomockham  "  was  sometimes  written  "  Tom  x  Maucum," 
and  one  of  the  family  wrote  his  own  name  "  Thomas  Occom,"  we  conjecture  that 
the  original  Indian  name  was  "  Ockham  "  (Aukum,  etc.)  meaning  "on  the  other 
side,"  and  that  he  adopted  the  prefix  "  Tom,"  which  had  possibly  been  given  him  by 
the  English. 

2  Mass.  Hist.  Soc.  Coll.,  I,  vol.  IX,  p.  So  ;  Conn.  Hist.  Soc.  Coll.,  V,  6. 

21 


22  SAMSON  OCCOM 

Zachary  Johnson,  an  aged  councilor  of  the  Mohegans,  after- 
wards testified  in  enmity  that  Occom's  grandfather  was  orig- 
inally from  a  town  at  or  near  Union,  that  he  came  and  fought 
the  Mohegans  at  Massapeak,  and  later  lived  at  Niantic.  There 
is  no  doubt  that  Tomockham  was  a  Mohegan,  as  much  so  as 
any  who  were  gathered  by  Uncas  in  the  formation  of  that 
clan  of  Connecticut  Indians.  Of  his  family  little  is  known. 
He  was  an  aged  man  in  1738  when  he  and  two  sons,  "  Tomoch- 
am  Jun' "  and  "John  Tomocham,"  signed  a  document  declar- 
ing their  loyalty  to  Sachem  Ben  Uncas,  and  probably  he  died 
soon  thereafter.  Joshua  Ockham,  another  and  doubtless 
older  son,  was  then  living  about  a  mile  north  of  Uncas  Hill, 
near  the  place  where  his  famous  son,  Samson,  afterwards  built 
his  house,  and  by  the  latter's  testimony  his  "father  was  the 
first  that  ever  lived  there."  Here  in  the  course  of  time  an 
Indian  village  sprang  up,  which  in  the  wider  fame  of  the  place 
was  called  Mohegan.  In  the  tribal  quarrel  between  Ben  and 
John  Uncas,  rivals  for  the  sachemship,  this  village  became 
known  as  "  Ben's  town"  in  distinction  from  "  John's  town,"  which 
was  situated  about  one-half  mile  south  of  it,  both  being  east 
of  the  road  from  Norwich  to  New  London.  In  the  wigwam  of 
Joshua  Ockham  the  son  Samson  was  born  in  the  year  1723,  on 
a  certain  day  which  our  hero  never  knew.  His  mother's  name 
was  Sarah  and  she  is  said  to  have  been  a  descendant  of  the 
famous  Mohegan  chief,  Uncas. ^  This  may  have  been  true,  not- 
withstanding the  statement  of  her  son  that  she  was  a  Groton 
Indian,  and  on  account  of  her  marriage  had  been  adopted 
into  the  Mohegan  tribe.  Uncas  himself  was  a  Pequot,  as  were 
the  Indians  of  Groton,  and  he  had  descendants  whose  names 
do  not  appear  in  the  royal  genealogy.  Occom's  references  to 
the  Wauby  family  as  his  kindred  and  particularly  to  Roger 
Wauby  lead  us  to  conjecture  that  these  were  relatives  on  his 
mother's  side,  and  that  her  maiden  name  was  either  Wauby  or 

2  Life  and  Times  of  Selina,  Cou7iiess  of  Huntingdon,  I,  411 


A   MOHEGAN   YOUTH  23 

Sampson.  At  all  events  she  was  above  the  average  as  an 
Indian  mother  in  intelligence,  industry  and  affection.  When 
in  due  time  she  became  a  convert  to  the  Christian  faith  and  a 
member  of  the  church,  she  exercised  a  powerful  influence 
over  the  life  and  character  of  her  son.  There  were  at  least 
four  children  in  the  family,  though  Joshua,  the  eldest,  may  have 
been  a  son  of  Ockham  by  a  former  marriage.  Sarah  had  Sam- 
son, Jonathan,  who  outlived  the  experiences  of  the  French 
War  and  the  Revolution  in  which  he  was  a  soldier,  and  Lucy, 
who  became  a  woman  of  pious  character,  married  John  Tan- 
taquidgeon,  and  died  in  1830  at  the  age  of  ninety-eight."*  The 
father  of  this  family  was  a  "  mighty  hunter,"  wandering  abroad 
during  the  season  of  the  chase  and  returning  to  Mohegan 
when  the  winter  snows  began  to  fall.  On  the  ist  of  July, 
1742,  the  sachem,  Ben  Uncas,  made  choice  of  twelve  coun- 
cilors and  among  them  were  Joshua  Ockham  and  his  son  Sam- 
son, then  only  nineteen  years  of  age.  This  is  the  last  trace 
we  have  of  the  father,  and  in  a  memorial  to  the  General 
Assembly,  May  17,  1743,  it  is  stated  that  all  these  councilors 
were  living  "  except  onely  Joshua  Aucom  who  is  lately  dead."' 
Thus  the  home  which  had  only  been  a  humble  hunter's  wig- 
wam at  Mohegan  was  broken  up  and  the  care  of  the  family 
fell  to  "  Widow  Sarah  Occom."  Twenty-five  years  later,  when 
Samson  Occom  was  thinking  of  preparing  an  autobiography, 
he  wrote  a  few  pages  concerning  his  early  life  which  have 
been  preserved.*"^  In  this  manuscript  he  speaks  thus  of  his 
heathen  home  : 

I  was  Born  a  Heathen  and  Brought  up  in  Heathenism  till  I  was 
between  16  and  17  years  of  age,  at  a  Place  Called  Mohegan,  in  New  Lon- 
don, Connecticut  in    New  England.     My  Parents  lived  a  wandering  life  as 

*  Her  daughter  Lucy  married  Peter  Teecomwas,  and  she  and  her  daughter,  Cynthia 
Hoscott,  gave  the  land  on  which  the   Mohegan  chapel  is  built.     Bostonian,   Marcli, 

1895,  P-  679-  , 

^Conn.  Archives,  Iiuliniis,  I,  248,  249. 
^Wheelock  Papers,  Dartmouth  College,  MS.,  Sept.  17,  1768. 


24 


SAMSON  OCCOM 


did  all  the  Indians  at  Mohegan.  They  Chiefly  Depended  upon  Hunting, 
Fishing  and  Fowling  for  their  Living  and  had  no  connection  with  the 
English,  excepting  to  Traffic  with  them  in  their  small  trifles  and  they 
strictly  maintained  and  followed  their  Heathenish  ways,  customs  and  Reli- 
gion. Neither  did  we  cultivate  our  Land  nor  keep  any  Sort  of  Creatures, 
except  Dogs  which  we  used  in  Hunting,  and  we  Dwelt  in  Wigwams. 
These  are  a  sort  of  Tent,  covered  with  Matts  made  of  Flags.  And  to  this 
Time  we  were  unacquainted  with  the  English  Tongue  in  general,  though 
there  were  a  few  who  understood  a  little  of  it. 

There  is  no  doubt  that  at  the  time  of  Occom's  birlh  the 
Mohegans  were  heathen.  Rev.  James  Fitch  of  Norwich  had, 
indeed,  long  before  endeavored  to  Christianize  some  of  them.' 
This  was  in  1671,  when  he  gathered  a  few  in  his  own  house 
once  a  fortnight  and  delivered  to  them  a  lecture  on  Christian 
doctrines.  At  first  he  was  encouraged  by  Uncas  and  his  son 
Oweneco ;  but  as  they  became  familiar  with  the  demands 
which  the  new  religion  made  upon  their  lives  they  resisted  his 
efforts.  The  General  Court  moved  the  commissioners  of  the 
United  Colonies  as  agents  of  the  missionary  society  to  assist 
him,  which  they  did.  It  also  announced  its  purpose  to  favor 
those  who  would  listen  to  their  teacher.  Fitch  had  a  com- 
pany of  about  thirty  in  1674,  which  was  increased  to  forty  the 
year  following.  In  the  hope  of  getting  them  to  live  together 
in  one  place  he  is  said  to  have  gjven  them  three  hundred 
acres  of  land.  All  his  efforts,  however,  came  to  little,  though 
we  cannot  say  what  might  have  been  but  for  King  Philip's 
War.  He  died  in  1702.  Nothing  further  was  attempted  until 
17 13,  when  Rev.  Experience  Mayhevv  of  Martha's  Vineyard, 
at  the  desire  of  the  commissioners,  set  out  from  Chilmark  on 
the  1 2th  of  October  to  make  a  tour  among  the  Indians  of 
southern  New  England.  On  the  21st  of  September,  17 14,  he 
started  on   a  second  tour.     The  journals  of  both  are  in  print. ^ 

'  DeForest's  Indians  of  Connecticut,  pp.  274-279;  Co)iti.  Col.  Rec,  II,  157,  158; 
Mass.  Hist.  Soc.  Coll.,  I,  vol.  i,  pp.  191,  192,  208,  209  ;  Mass.  Hist.  Soc.  Proc,  Nov., 
1879  ;  Nezv  England  Company,  p.  44  ;  and  Conn.  Archives,  Indians,  I,  33. 

^  New  England  Company,  London,  1896,  pp.  97-127. 


A   MOHEGAN    YOUTH 


25 


He  was  accompanied  in  the  former  as.  far  as  the  Narragansett 
country  by  William  Simons,  an  Indian  minister  of  Dartmouth, 
who  had  been  ordained  by  Japhet  of  Martha's  Vineyard.'' 
After  a  short  stay  at  Ninegret's  settlement  he  passed  on  to 
Stonington,  whence  he  was  conducted  by  Rev.  James  Noyes 
and  others  to  the  Pequot  reservation.  Here  he  had  a  meet- 
ing a  few  days  later  with  all  he  could  gather  of  the  tribe. 
Thence  he  went  to  New  London,  thinking  to  arrange  a  meet- 
ing with  the  Mohegans.  In  this  he  failed,  the  Indians  being 
off  hunting,  but  he  wrote  an  address  "to  the  Mohegin  and 
Nahantick  Indians"  informing  them  of  the  object  of  hi^  visit, 
which  Governor  Saltonstall  communicated  to  them  later.  On 
his  second  tour  he  visited  the  Pequots  at  North  Stonington 
and  Groton,  being  assisted  by  their  overseer,  Captain  James 
Avery,  who  could  act  as  his  interpreter.  At  this  time  he  went 
to  Mohegan,  where  the  Indians  were  gathered  in  a  large 
double  wigwam  in  the  presence  of  Major  Ben  Uncas,  uncle  of 
the  sachem,  Caesar,  and,  in  an  address  an  hour  and  a  half  long, 
Mayhew  commended  unto  them  the  Christian  religion.  He 
received  their  thanks  for  the  interest  of  the  English  ;  but  as 
for  their  religion  the  Indians  denied  the  necessity  of  it,  pleaded 
that  they  had  their  own  way  of  worship,  declared  that  in  Fitch's 
time  their  fathers  had  found  it  too  hard,  and  asserted  that  the 
English  were  no  better  for  it,  as  they  would  cheat  the  Indians 
of  their  land  just  the  same.  So  he  left  them,  having  some 
hopes  in  further  efforts  to  be  made  by  Governor  Saltonstall 
and  Rev.  Eliphalet  Adams.  It  was  doubtless  to  this  occasion 
that  Cotton   Mather  referred  when  he  wrote  in  1715  :  "There 

"Japhet  was  born  at  Chilmark  about  163S,  and  was  ordained  by  Hiacoomes  in 
1683,  as  teacher  of  the  first  Indian  church  of  Martha's  Vineyard,  and  the  successor  of 
Tackanash,  the  associate  of  Hiacoomes.  He  ordained  WiUiani  Simons  in  1695. 
Both  of  them  had  preached  some  to  Wamsuttan's  company  of  Rhode  Island  Indians. 
Japhet  died  July  29,  1712,  and  Simons  continued  the  work  at  intervals.  See  Report 
of  1698,  Mass.  Hist.  Soc.  Coll.,  I,  vol.  x,  p.  129;  Mayhew's  Indian  Converts,  pp.  10, 
15?  44- 


26  SAMSON  OCCOM 

has  been  Something  done  to  Christianize  the  Mohegins,  and 
other  Indians  in  the  Colony  of  Connecticut;  but,  Lord,  who 
has  believed  !  They  have  been  obstinate  in  their  Paganism ; 
however  their  obstinacy  has  not  put  an  End  unto  our 
Endeavours."  1'^  One  incident  of  these  tours  is  worthy  of  note, 
namely,  Mayhew's  acquaintance  with  Joseph  and  Benjamin 
Garret,  the  sons  of  Catapezet  (Kottupesit),  and  grandsons  of 
the  famous  Hermon  Garret  or  Wequash  Cook  (Wequashcuk). 
The  former  was  his  interpreter,  his  assistant  in  translating  the 
Lord's  Prayer  into  the  Pequot  tongue  and  the  ally  of  his 
efforts — "of  very  good  quality  among  the  Indians,"  who 
"gave  him  [me]  some  hopes  that  he  would  become  a  Christian 
himself."  Joseph  Garret  had  been  chosen  by  the  Niantics  of 
Lyme  as  their  sachem,  and  his  daughter  was  the  wife  of 
Caesar,  sachem  of  the  Mohegans.  Mayhew  also  met  his 
brother  Benjamin,  who  understood  some  English  and  had  a 
son  then  seven  years  old  whom  he  was  "willing  to  devote  to 
learning  that  so  he  may  be  a  minister."  That  boy  became  the 
Benjamin  Garret  of  later  times,  the  father  of  Hannah  Fowler, 
who  kept  the  cabin  of  Samuel  Kirkland  in  Oneida.  The  ear- 
liest known  grand  sachem  of  the  Niantics  had  been  Momo- 
joshuck,  and  here  we  see  the  flow  of  his  royal  blood  through 
his  son  Hermon  Garret,  Catapezet,  Benjamin  Garret,  Ben- 
jamin, Jr.,  Hannah,  the  wife  of  David  Fowler,  who  was 
Samson  Occom's  brother-in-law  and  companion  in  the  first 
westward  mission  from  Connecticut,  James  Fowler,  a  judge 
in  the  Indian  Peacemaker's  Court,  David  Fowler,  the  hon- 
ored deacon  of  their  church,  to  Lathrop  Fowler,  the  intelli- 
gent American  citizen.      But  we  anticipate  our  story. 

The  greatest  good  which  resulted  from  Mayhew's  tours  was 
the  new  interest  he  awakened  in  Indian  missions  in  southern 
New  England.  Governor  Saltonstall  and  his  pastor,  Rev. 
Eliphalet  Adams,  were  especially  aroused  to  their  duties.     His 

^°  Mather's  Just  Commemorations,  p.  53. 


A   MO  H  KG  AN   YOUTH 


27 


Excellency  gave  himself  to  a  careful  examination  of  the  condi- 
tions, and  communicated  his  interest  to  the  General  Assembly 
of  Connecticut.  That  body,  in  May,  17 17,  recorded  its  belief 
that  something  should  be  done  toward  "gospelizing  the 
Indians,"  and  referred  the  matter  to  the  governor  and  council. 
At  the  next  session  the  governor  proposed  certain  measures  to 
that  end,  the  most  important  of  which  was  that  the  Indians 
should  be  gathered  in  villages  '*  where  they  might  have  dis- 
tinct properties  and  these  secured  to  the  use  of  their  respect- 
ive families,"  and  might  receive  instruction  from  a  school- 
master." These  measures  were  duly  enacted,  and  village  life 
among  the  Mohegans  and  the  Connecticut  tribes  generally 
dates  from  that  time. 

The  very  year  of  Occom's  birth  Captain  John  Mason,  the 
guardian  of  the  Mohegans,  who  had  some  acquaintance  with 
their  language,  received  permission  from  the  General  Assem- 
bly to  live  among  them,  and  it  was  recommended  that  he  set 
up  a  school  and  acquaint  the  Indians  with  the  Christian 
religion. -^^  This  he  attempted  with  the  assistance  of  the 
assembly,  under  the  patronage  of  the  "  Society  for  Propagat- 
ing the  Gospel,"  which  thereafter  maintained  such  privileges 
as  they  had.  Probably  at  first  he  taught  a  few  children  in  his 
own  hut;  but  in  1727  a  schoolhouse  was  occupied  and  he  was 
established  as  schoolmaster.  This  building  was  an  unpreten- 
tious one,  only  twenty-two  feet  by  sixteen,  and  had  been 
erected  by  the  colony  at  a  cost  of  ^60.^=^  The  following  year 
his  pupils  were  examined  by  two  neighboring  ministers, 
Eliphalet  Adams  of  New  London  and  Benjamin  Lord  of 
Norwich.  It  was  found  that  they  could  "spell  very  prettily," 
and  some  could  read  "pretty  tolerably  without  spelling"  from 
their    primers    and    psalters.      "They    could    say    the    Lord's 

"  Conn.  Archives.  Indians,  I,  86;  Conn.  Col.  Rec,  VI,  15,  31,  32. 

12  Conn.  Col.  Rec,  VI,  429. 

13  Conn.  Col.  Rec,  VII,  7s  ;  Conn.  Hist.  Soc.  Coll.,  IV,  S2,  ^1,,  389,  390. 


'^8  SAMSON  OCCOM 

Prayer,  the  Ten  commandments  and  a  pretty  deal  in  Mr. 
Cotton's  Catechism  Milk  for  Babes. "^*  This  was  not  very 
advanced  education,  but  under  the  circumstances  it  was 
encouraging.  Captain  Mason  kept  this  school  for  about 
seven  years,  when  a  revival  of  the  Mohegan  land  troubles 
turned  the  Indians  against  him  and  the  school  was  discon- 
tinued. During  this  time  also  Rev.  Eliphalet  Adams  was 
employed  by  the  missionary  society  to  deliver  occasional 
lectures  among  them,  following  the  Puritan  example  of  John 
Eliot.  As  a  means  of  religious  instruction  these  may  not 
have  been  very  fruitful,  but  they  made  the  Indians  acquainted 
with  one  of  the  foremost  ministers  of  the  region — one  whom 
they  loved  and  trusted,  and  who  ever  remained  their  firm 
friend.  To  him  more  than  any  other  individual  the  mainte- 
nance of  educational  and  Christianizing  privileges  at  Mohegan 
was  due.  He  was  always  consulted  by  the  missionary  society, 
and  his  judgment  was  received  without  question. 

One  of  Mason's  pupils  was  the  young  Ben  Uncas,  the  third 
of  the  name,  only  son  of  the  sachem.  He  proved  to  be  so 
proficient  that  in  1729  he  was  taken  into  Mr.  Adams's  home, 
and  for  five  years  he  remained  under  his  care,  being  in  1731 
about  to  be  "  put  upon  grammar  learning  "  to  qualify  him  for 
a  preacher,  which  he  and  his  family  wished. ^^  In  the  summer 
of  1734  he  was  brought  by  Rev.  Oliver  Peabody  to  his  home 
in  Natick,  and  on  the  14th  of  November  was  apprenticed  to 
Thomas  Russell  of  Sherburn,  cardwainer.  He  did  not  remain 
throughout  his  full  term,  however,  but  was  sent  for  in  1737  in 
pursuance  of  a  political  purpose,  and  married  to  Ann,  daughter 
of  the  late  Sachem  Casar.^^ 

Here  we  may  see  how  those  lingering  influences  of  John 
Eliot   at   Natick  were  propagated  at   Mohegan.      At  Mason's 

1*  Conn.  Archives,  College  and  Schools,  I,  69;  Conn.  Hist.  Soc.  Coll.,  IV,  107-112. 
15  MS.  Rec.  Soc.  for  Prop.  Cos. 

^''' Ibid.;  Conn.  Archives,  Indians,  I,  236  ;  Conn.  Hist.  Soc.  Coll.,  \ ,  204  ;  Mohegan 
Case,  p.  210. 


A    MO  H EG  AN    YOUTH  29 

request  a  Christian  Indian  of  that  town,  Thomas  Pegun  by 
name,  was  sent  to  the  Mohegans  in  1732  "to  introduce  among 
them  family  worship  and  the  observation  of  the  Lord's  Day," 
and  the  Natick  missionary.  Rev.  Oliver  Peabody,  visited  them 
a  few  weeks  later,  bringing  back  such  a  report  to  the  commis- 
sioners of  the  missionary  society  that  it  was  decided  to  send 
a  minister  to  labor  there.  After  some  search  for  a  proper 
person,  Mr.  Jonathan  Barber  of  Springfield  was  appointed  at  a 
salary  of  i^ioo  a  year,  and  about  the  middle  of  August,  1733, 
he  commenced  his  work.^^  He  was  a  licensed  preacher,  and 
began  at  once  to  gather  the  Indians  for  religious  instruction. 
When  Mr.  Peabody  in  1734  took  the  young  Uncas  to  his 
home,  he  had  been  at  Mohegan  to  encourage  this  mission. 
He  made  a  favorable  report,  and  everything  seemed  promis- 
ing. Mr.  Adams  continued  his  lectures,  and  supervised  the 
work  in  behalf  of  the  society.  In  1736  an  attempt  was  made 
to  revive  the  school  under  one  Samuel  Avery  as  master,  but 
after  one  year  he  was  displaced  for  neglect,  and  the  school 
was  put  under  the  charge  of  Mr.  Barber.  Meanwhile,  how- 
ever, the  controversy  between  the  Indians  and  Captain  Mason 
had  been  increasing  animosities.  Unfortunately  their  teacher 
seemed  to  the  Indians  to  side  with  Mason  against  them,  and 
his  early  influence  waned.  The  children  would  not  attend 
school,  and  their  parents  refused  to  hear  their  enemy  preach. 
So  the  mission  failed,  and  Barber  was  dismissed  by  the  society 
June  22,  1738. 

"Jonathan  Barber  was  born  in  West  Springfield,  Mass.,  Jan.  31,  1712-13,  being 
the  son  of  Thomas  and  Sarah,  (Ball)  Barber.  He  graduated  at  Yale  College  in 
1730,  studied  theology,  and  was  licensed  to  preach  by  the  Hampshire  County  Asso- 
ciation. He  labored  a  short  time  among  the  Indians  at  Agawam,  Mass.,  before  he 
went  to  Mohegan.  After  his  dismissal  in  1738,  he  preached  at  Oyster  Ponds,  L.  I., 
and  was  in  1740  made  superintendent  of  Whitefield's  Orphan  House  in  Georgia. 
He  returned  to  Long  Island  in  1747,  and  was  ordained  at  Oyster  Ponds.  Nov.  y, 
1757,  by  the  Suffolk  Presbytery,  Rev.  Ebenezer  Prime  preaching  the  sermon,  which 
is  in  print.  On  Nov.  3,  1758,  he  was  installed  pastor  of  the  Congregational  Church 
in  Groton,  Conn.,  where  he  labored  until  1765,  when  he  became  insane.     His  princi- 


30  SAAfSOJV  OCCOM 

These  attempts  to  civilize  the  Mohegans  did  not  make  any 
impression  upon  the  youth,  Samson  Occom.  In  the  manu- 
script already  referred  to,  he  gives  the  following  pithy  account 
of  them  : 

Once  a  Fortnight  in  ye  Summer  Season  a  Minister  from  New  London 
[Rev.  Eliphalet  Adams]  used  to  come  up  and  the  Indians  to  attend ;  not 
that  they  regarded  the  Christian  Religion,  but  they  had  Blankets  given  to 
them  every  Fall  of  the  year  and  for  these  things  they  would  attend.  And 
there  was  a  Sort  of  a  School  Kept,  when  I  was  quite  young,  but  I  believe 
there  never  was  one  that  ever  Learnt  to  read  anything.  And  when  I  was 
about  ten  years  of  age  there  was  a  man  [Jonathan  Barber]  who  went  about 
among  the  Indian  Wigwams,  and  wherever  he  could  find  the  Indian  Children 
would  make  them  read,  but  the  Children  used  to  take  Care  to  keep  out  of 
his  Way  :  and  he  used  to  Catch  me  some  times  and  make  me  Say  over  my 
Letters  and  I  believe  I  learnt  some  of  them.  But  this  was  Soon  over  too, 
and  all  this  Time  there  was  not  one  amongst  us  that  made  a  Profession  of 
Christianity. 

The  most  prominent  friend  of  the  Christian  religion  during 
this  period  was  the  sachem,  Ben  Uncas,  2d.  Whatever  his 
motive  may  have  been,  and  however  much  his  subsequent 
conversion  may  be  questioned,  he  was  certainly  favorable  to 
the  introduction  of  Christianity  into  his  tribe.  So  early  as 
1729,  when  he  sent  his  son  to  live  with  Rev.  Eliphalet  Adams, 
he  expressed  the  desire  to  have  his  children  instructed  in  the 
Christian  religion.  His  interest  increased.  At  his  request 
the  missionary  had  been  sent  to  Mohegan,  and  the  testimony 
at  that  time  was  that  he  had  been  "  of  late  greatly  reformed," 
and  both  he  and  his  wife  had  begun  to  learn  to  read.  In  1736 
he  made  a  declaration  of  his  acceptance  of  Christianity,  at 
which  the  General  Assembly  expressed  their  satisfaction,  and 
presented  him   with  a  hat  and  greatcoat — on  more  than  one 

pal  delusion  was  that  he  was  a  leper.  In  1768  his  pastorate  was  dissolved,  but  he 
lived  on  at  Groton,  dying  Oct.  8,  1783.  He  married  Nov.  2,  1740,  Sarah  Noyes, 
daughter  of  Rev.  James  Noyes  of  Westerly,  and  granddaughter  of  the  Stonington 
minister.  She  was  born  Nov.  17,  1714,  and  died  May  30,  1761.  They  had  nine 
children. — Dexter's  Yale  Biographies,  I,  410,  411. 


A   MO  II  EG  AN    YOUTIJ  3 1 

occasion  the  attire  in  which  the  fathers  arrayed  their  Indian 
converts  for  the  heavenly  course. ^^  This  event  more  than  any 
other  gave  occasion  for  the  action  of  the  General  Assembly  in 
May,  1736,  noting  the  revival  of  Indian  missions,  and  ordering 
a  general  collection  therefor  in  the  churches  on  the  next 
Thanksgiving  Day. 

Mr.  Adams  se^ms  to  have  had  confidence  in  the  sachem's 
sincerity,  and  on  the  31st  of  October,  1742,  upon  their  making 
"  profession  of  the  Christian  faith,"  he  baptized  "  Benjamin 
Uncas,  sachem  of  the  Mohegan  Indians,  and  his  son  Benjamin 
with  his  wife  Ann  also  Lucy  Uncas,"  whose  names  were  duly 
entered  in  the  records  of  the  First  Church  of  New  London.^'' 
Probably  they  did  not  thus  become  communicants,  for  it  had 
long  been  customary  to  baptize  Indians  who  professed 
Christianity.  So  far  as  we  know,  however,  this  sachem  lived 
a  reformed  and  creditable  life.  He  died  in  1749,  and  his  will, 
like  that  of  the  white  man,  recommended  his  soul  to  God, 
"  trusting  in  Christ  for  the  free  and  full  pardon  of  all  his 
sins."^*'  The  son  who  succeeded  him  was  Adams'  pupil.  In 
1739,  after  an  examination  in  which  his  proficiency  had  been 
proven,  he  had  been  placed  in  the  schoolmaster'^?  chair  at 
Mohegan.  We  know^  nothing  about  the  school  he  kept,  but 
he  was  no  doubt  successful,  as  he  remained  in  charge  for 
nearly  ten  years  and  his  salary  was  increased  by  the  mission- 
ary society  to  ^^"80  a  year.  Now  the  time  had  come  for  him 
to  surrender  the  school  for  the  sachemship.     Thus  the  chief 

'^  Conn.  Col.  Rec,  VIII,  72,  72,  ;  C^^'^-  ^''^-  ^''-  ^^^^•'  ^^''  354  ;  and  T/ic  Church 
Review,  Hartford,  November,  1X98. 

r^Lucy  Uncas  married,  Oct.  23,  1744,  Samuel  Pye.  Two  younger  children  of  the 
sachem,  Esther  and  Mary,  and  a  son  of  Ben.  Uncas,  Jr.,  Benjamin,  were  baptized  at 
the  same  time.  Other  children  of  the  sachem's  son  were  baptized  as  follows  :  May 
I  1741;,  "  Benjamin  Uncas  Jr.  child  Ann  and  his  wife  her  child  Mary;"  Aug.  13, 
1744,  Josiah;  April  10,  1748,  Esther;  April  23,  1750,  "  Isaiah-Mercy  child  Mercy." 
The  first  wife  Ann  died  before  1750,  and  Ben.  Uncas,  Jr.,  married  Mercy,  who  sur- 
vived  him. 

20  DeForest's  Indians  of  Connecticut,  pp.  447,  448- 


32  SAMSON  OCCOM 

of  the  Mohegans,  during  the  next  quarter-century,  was  both  a 
nominal  adherent  to  Christianity  and  a  missionary  school- 
master. 

Another  important  factor  in  Mohegan  affairs  was  the  North 
Church  of  New  London,  now  in  the  town  of  Montville*.  Here, 
in  1739,  Rev.  David  Jewett  was  settled  as  minister.-^  He  inter- 
ested himself  from  the  first  in  the  condition  of  his  Indian 
neighbors.  An  attempt  had  been  made  before  his  coming  to 
remove  the  meeting-house  one  mile  to  the  eastward,  nearer  the 
Indian  settlement,  and  unite  them  in  one  parish  with  the  Eng- 
lish, the  "  Society  for  Propagating  the  Gospel  "  to  contribute  the 
share  of  the  Indians.  This  plan  was  favored  by  the  commis- 
sioners, but  it  failed,  for  the  location  of  a  meeting-house  was 
always  a  troublesome  question  and  much  more  so  under  these 
conditions.  However,  the  young  minister  felt  a  responsibility 
in  the  matter  and  had  a  sincere  desire  to  do  what  he  could  for 
the  heathen  at  his  door. 

When  Mr.  Jewett  had  been  settled  about  a  year,  the  great 
religious  awakening  of  the  time  began.  It  is  unnecessary  to 
give  here  an  account  of  this  movement.  The  Mohegan 
Indians  were  located  in  the  midst  of  a  region  where  its  impres- 
sions were  most  positive.  It  was  the  day  of  Rev.  George 
Whitefield,  who  felt  so  keenly  the  power  of  a  missionary 
motive  and  imbued  his  followers  with  the  same  spirit.  Some 
ministers  of  eastern  Connecticut  had  already  met  him.  In  the 
spring  of  1741  Rev.  Gilbert  Tennent  visited  New  London  and 
preached  there  and  at  Lyme.  Soon  after  him  there  came  Rev. 
James  Davenport,  the  enthusiast,  who  labored  earnestly  in  the 

2^  David  Jewett  was  born  in  Rowley,  Mass..  June  10, 1714,  being  the  son  of  Stephen 
Jewett.  He  had  a  twin  brother  Daniel.  After  his  graduation  at  Harvard  College  in 
1736,  he  studied  theology  and  was  ordained  pastor  of  the  North  Church  in  New  Lon- 
don (Montville),  Oct.  3,  1739.  In  1756  he  was  chaplain  of  a  Connecticut  regiment 
raised  for  the  expedition  to  Crown  Point.  He  married  (i)  Patience  Philips  of 
Boston,  who  died  Nov.  14,  1773,  aged  66,  and  (2)  Mary,  widow  of  William  Prince, 
who  survived  him.     He  died  in  office  June  5,  1783. 


A    MO  H EG  AN    YOUTH 


33 


neighborhood  and  stirred  up  the  ministers,  particularly  con- 
cerning their  obligations  to  the  Indians,  many  of  whom  went 
to  hear  him  preach.  The  desire  of  Mr.  Jewett  was  kindled  to 
a  flame.  Davenport's  brother-in-law%  Rev.  Eleazar  Wheelock 
of  Lebanon  Crank,  the  Second  or  North  Parish  of  the  town, 
now  Columbia,  Rev,  Jonathan  Parsons  of  Lyme,  Rev.  Ben- 
jamin Pomeroy  of  Hebron,  and  other  ministers  thereabouts 
were  deeply  moved.  Thus  it  happened  that  the  way  was  pre- 
pared for  the  subsequent  missionary  enterprise  of  Dr.  Whee- 
lock. His  neighbors  were  born  into  the  same  interest.  As 
friends  of  Whitefield  they  made  him  a  friend  to  their  Indians. 
He  afterwards  visited  the  locality  more  than  once,  and  in  1745 
he  held  a  great  meeting  of  Indians  at  Mohegan.-^  The  result- 
ing evangelistic  efforts  were  not  confined  to  that  tribe.  Min- 
isters labored  among  the  Pequots  at  Groton  and  Stonington, 
the  Western  Niantics  in  Lyme,  and  the  Eastern  Niantics  or 
Narragansetts  in  Charlestown,  Rhode  Island.  Of  these  we 
shall  speak  more  particularly  later ;  we  now  note  that  the  foun- 
dations of  this  work  were  laid  in  the  "Great  Awakening." 

The  people  of  Mr.  Jewett's  parish  shared  in  this  new  inter- 
est in  the  Indians.  The  movement  for  a  union  was  revived, 
but  again  nothing  was  effected.  In  1742  an  effort  was  made 
to  settle  a  minister  at  Mohegan  over  the  Indians,  but  this  also 
failed.  The  result  was  that  the  Indians  came  under  Mr.  Jew- 
ett's pastoral  care,  for  which  he  was  paid  by  the  missionary 
society.  Bibles,  psalters,  primers  and  catechisms  were 
secured  and  distributed  among  them.  Such  as  were  inter- 
ested attended  worship  at  his  church.  In  the  course  of  time 
some  who  gave  good  evidence  of  fitness  were  admitted  to 
fellowship  with  his  people,  and  among  them  was  the  Widow 
Sarah  Occom.-'^ 

22  Caulkins'  History  of  Norwich,  p.  321 . 

23  These  members  were  as  follows:  Cyrus  Junco  and  his  wife;  Sarah  J  unco  and 

Lucy  Junco,  sisters  to  Cyrus  ;  Widow  Shokket ;  Peggy  ;  Henry  Cocquid  ;  Joshua 

Nonesuch  and     Hannah   Nonesuch:    Andrew  Tantapah  :  Joseph    Tanner;  Widow 

4 


34 


SAMSON  OCCOM 


Samson  Occom  was  converted,  according  to  the  testimony  of 
Doctor  Wheelock,  "by  the  blessing  of  God  on  the  labors  of 
Rev.  Mr.  Davenport."  The  account  of  his  experience  can  be 
best  given  in  his  own  words  : 

When  I  was  i6  years  of  age,  we  heard  a  strange  Rumor  among  the 
English  that  there  were  extraordinary  Ministers  Preaching  from  Place  to 
Place  and  a  Strange  Concern  among  the  White  People.  This  was  in  the 
Spring  of  the  .Year.  But  we  saw  nothing  of  these  things  till  Some  Time  in 
the  Summer,  when  Some  ministers  began  to  yisit  us  and  Preach  the  Word 
of  God;  and  the  Common  People  also  came  frequently  and  exhorted  us  to 
the  things  of  God  which  it  pleased  the  Lord,  as  I  humbly  hope,  to  Bless  and 
accompany  with  Divine  Influences  to  the  Conviction  and  Saving  Conver- 
sion of  a  Number  of  us,  amongst  whom  I  was  one  that  was  Impresst  with 
the  things  we  had  heard.  These  Preachers  did  not  only  come  to  us,  but  we 
frequently  went  to  their  meetings  and  Churches.  After  I  was  convicted  I 
went  to  al  Ithe  meetings  I  could  come  at,  &  continued  under  Trouble  of 
Mind  about  6  months,  at  which  time  I  began  to  Learn  the  English  Letters, 
got  me  a  Primer  and  used  to  go  to  my  English  Neighbours  frequently  for 
Assistance  in  Reading,  but  went  to  no  School.  And  when  I  was  17  years 
of  age  I  had,  as  I  trust,  a  Discovery  of  the  way  of  Salvation  through  Jesus 
Christ  and  was  enabled  to  put  my  trust  in  him  alone  for  Life  &  Salvation. 
From  this  Time  the  Distress  and  Burden  of  my  mind  was  removed,  and  I 
found  Serenity  and  Pleasure  of  Soul  in  Serving  God.  By  this  time  I  just 
began  to  Read  in  the  New  Testament  without  Spelling,  and  I  had  a 
Stronger  Desire  Still  to  Learn  to  read  the  Word  of  God,  and  at  the  Same 
Time  had  an  uncommon  Pity  &  Compassion  to  my  Poor  Brethren  Accord- 
ing to  the  Flesh.  I  used  to  wish  I  was  Capable  of  Instructing  my  poor  Kin- 
dred. I  used  to  think  if  I  could  once  Learn  to  Read  I  would  Instruct  the 
poor  Children  in  Reading  and  used  frequently  to  talk  with  our  Indians  Con- 
cerning Religion.  Thus  I  continued  till  I  was  in  my  19th  year,  and  by  this 
Time  I  could  Read  a  little  in  the  P.ible. 

It  was  at  such  a  crisis  in  the  life  of  this  Mohegan  youth  that 
he  came  under  the  influence  of  Rev.  Eleazar  Wheelock  of  Leb- 
anon,  who  became   his  instructor  and   friend — a  relationship 

Bette  Occom;  Lizze  Nimrod;  Lucy  Cochegan  ;  Widow  Anna  Uncas  ;  John  Nan- 
nipoon  and  Hannah  Nannipoon  ;  Sarah  Occom  ;  Anna  Uncas,  wife  of  the  sachem  ; 
Widow  Hannah  Cooper,  and  Samuel  Ashpo. — Manual  of  the  First  Congregati  >nal 
Churchy  Montville,  Conn.,  1875,  p.  19. 


A    MO  HE  G  AN   YOUTH 


35 


which  was  no  less  important  in  the  career  of  the  teacher  tlian 
in  that  of  the  Indian  pupil.  The  biography  of  this  minister 
has  been  fully  written  and  must  be  sought  elsewhere.^'*  A  few 
facts  will  tell  his  story  to  this  date.  He  was  born  in  Wind- 
ham, Conn.,  April  22,  17 11,  being  the  son  of  Deacon  Ralph 
Wheelock,  a  farmer  in  that  town,  and  Ruth,  daughter  of  Mr. 
Christopher  Huntington  of  Norwich.  Having  become  a  Chris- 
tian at  the  age  of  sixteen,  he  entered  Yale  College  with  the 
design  of  preparing  himself  for  the  ministry.  After  his  gradu- 
ation in  1733,  he  studied  theology,  was  licensed  to  preach  in 
1734,  and  on  the  4th  of  June,  1735,  was  ordained  as  pastor  of 
the  Second  Congregational  Church  of  Lebanon.  The  same 
year  he  married  Sarah,  daughter  of  Rev.  John  Davenport  of 
Stamford,  Conn.,  and  widow  of  Captain  William  Maltby,  after 
whose  death,  in  1746,  he  married  Mary  Brinsmead  of  Milford, 
Conn.  By  his  first  wife  he  had  six  children,  among  them  his 
son  Ralph,  and  by  his  second  wife,  five,  among  whom  were  Mary 
and  Abigail,  whose  husbands.  Prof.  Bezaleel  Woodward  and 
Prof.  Silvanus  Ripley,  became  assistants  in  his  work,  and  his 
son  John,  who  followed  him  in  the  presidency  of  Dartmouth 
College.  We  are  thus  introduced  evidently  to  the  home  of  a 
Connecticut  minister,  where  learning,  piety  and  culture  were 
bred.  The  father  was  a  superior  scholar.  He  had  also  the 
teacher's  gift,  which  inspired  the  youth  about  him  with  zeal 
in  their  studies.  In  addition  to  his  pastoral  duties  and  occa- 
sional labors  in  revivals,  he  had  found  time  to  instruct  a  few 
pupils  gathered  in  his  family.  Of  his  personal  appearance,  his 
biographer  has  said:  "He  was  of  a  middle  stature  and  size, 
well  proportioned,  erect  and  dignified.  His  features  were 
prominent,  his  eyes  a  light  blue  and  animated.  His  complex- 
ion was  fair,  and  the  general  expression  of  his  countenance 
pleasing  and  handsome.     His  voice  was  remarkably  full,  har- 

2<  McClure's  Memoirs  of  Wheelock ;  Chase's  Hist,  of  Dartmouth  College;  Dexter's 
Yale  Biographies,  I,  493-499  ;  and  Sprague's /4«;/a/j,  I,    397-403. 


^6  SAMSON  OCCOM 

monious,  and  commanding."^^  This  description,  however,  does 
not  make  mention  of  that  personal  magnetism  which  was  char- 
acteristic of  him  as  a  teacher.  The  Indians  especially  felt  the 
power  of  this  gift  and  remarked  upon  it.  His  winsome  pres- 
ence impressed  them.  Savage  natures  sometimes  came  easily 
under  his  control.  A  desire  for  a  new  life  was  awakened 
within  them  by  his  tender  words.  Thus  they  became  attached 
to  him,  and  in  this  friendship  between  teacher  and  pupil  is  ta 
be  found  in  large  measure  the  secret  of  his  success.  Surely  in 
the  home  of  this  minister  an  ambitious  young  Indian  could 
hope  to  find  his  opportunity. 

It  has  been  generally  supposed  that  Doctor  Wheelock  dug 
Samson  Occom  as  a  rough  diamond  from  the  earth.  Evidently 
this  was  not  the  case.  It  was  already  glittering  before  he  met 
with  it.  We  have  Occom's  own  account  of  the  way  their 
acquaintance  came  about.      In  his  manuscript  he  says: 

At  this  time  my  Poor  Mother  was  going  to  Lebanon,  and  having  had 
some  knowledge  of  Mr.  Wheelock  and  Learning  that  he  had  a  number  of 
English  Youth  under  his  Tuition  I  had  a  great  Inclination  to  go  to  him  and 
to  be  with  him  a  week  or  a  Fortnight,  and  Desired  my  Mother  to  Ask  Mr. 
Wheelock  whether  he  would  take  me  a  little  while  to  Instruct  me  in  Read- 
ing. Mother  did  so,  and  when  she  came  Back,  she  said  Mr.  Wheelock 
wanted  to  see  me  as  soon  as  possible.  So  I  went  up  thinking  I  should  be 
back  again  in  a  few  Days.  When  I  got  up  there,  he  received  me  with  kind- 
ness &  compassion,  &  instead  of  staying  a  Fortnight  or  3  weeks,  I  spent  4 
years  with  him. 

It  should  be  said  to  the  honor  of  Doctor  Wheelock,  the 
father  of  Indian  missionaries,  that  he  thus,  without  hope  of 
remuneration  or  other  aim  than  to  do  good,  took  this  young 
Mohegan  into  his  care  and  home.  It  proved  to  be  an  event 
in  the  history  of  Indian  missions.  In  listening  with  compas- 
sion to  the  plea  of  this  mother  who  stood  at  his  door,  he  was 
hearing  a  cry  from  Macedonia.  A  man  less  benevolent  or 
sympathetic  or  appreciative   of  the  value  of   education   would 

-°  McClure's  Memoirs  of  Wheelock,  p.  131. 


A   MO  H EG  AN    YOUTH  o^ 

have  hesitated.  Wheelock  opened  the  door  and  a  youth  who 
was  to  become  the  foremost  of  his  race  entered  with  a  new 
hope.  So  it  was  Occom  who  sought  out  Wheelock  and  not 
Wheelock  who  sought  out  Occom. 

The  teacher  recognized  at  once  the  slumbering  talents  of 
his  pupil.  He  began  with  patience  and  wisdom  to  develop 
them.  The  youth's  progress  was  encouraging.  He  had  his 
reading  lessons  from  the  Bible  and  thus  advanced  at  the  same 
time  in  Christian  knowledge.  In  writing  he  copied  passages 
set  for  him  by  his  teacher.  One  specimen  of  that  early  time 
has  been  preserved  among  the  Wheelock  Papers  at  Dartmouth 
College,  and  is  reproduced  underneath  his  portrait  in  our 
frontispiece.  On  the  sheet  the  pupil  had  wTitten  the  Lord's 
Prayer  in  Latin,  Greek  and  French,  and  then,  as  school-boys 
are  w^ont  to  do,  he  inscribed  on  the  reverse  in  his  best  pen- 
manship "  Samson  Occom,  The  Indian  of  Mohegan,  Ejus 
Manus."  It  was  customary  at  that  time  to  begin  early  with 
the  study  of  the  classics.  The  young  Indian  was  soon  en- 
gaged in  Latin,  attempting  to  compose  sentences  in  that  lan- 
guage. So  the  days  went  by.  Occom  became  acquainted  with 
family  life  in  the  Wheelock  home  and  its  refining  infiuences 
were  a  great  blessing  to  him.  As  he  was  associated  with 
other  pupils  he  noted  the  deficiencies  of  his  heathen  training 
and  was  quick  to  profit  by  the  examples  set  before  him.  It  is 
known  that  he  soon  became  a  member  of  Doctor  Wheelock's 
church,  but  the  church  rolls  are  lost  which  recorded  the  date 
of  his  profession  of  faith,  as  that  of  other  Indian  pupils  in 
later  years.  A  few  names  have  been  recovered  from  the  min- 
ister's manuscripts. 

It  was  the  6th  of  December,  1743,  when  Samson  C)ccom 
went  thus  to  live  with  Doctor  Wheelock.  He  was  then 
twenty  years  of  age.  On  that  day  he  began  to  keep  a  diary, 
which  he  wrote  in  an  easy  and  distinct  hand — a  practice  which 
he  continued   throughout   his  life,  though    parts  of  it   are   not 


38  SAMSON  OCCOM 

known  to  be  extant  ^^  which  would  be  of  great  interest.  He 
seems  to  have  had  in  mind  at  first  mainly  his  own  pleasure 
and  profit ;  but  later  when  he  became  a  beneficiary  of  the 
"  Society  for  Propagating  the  Gospel  "  it  was  necessary  for  him 
to  keep  some  account  of  his  life  upon  which  to  make  report. 
In  his  subsequent  missionary  labors  this  was  insisted  on,  and 
to  this  fact  we  owe  much  information  concerning  his  career. 
He  naturally  chronicles  more  particularly  his  journeys  to  and 
fro,  the  meetings  he  attended,  his  sermon  texts  and  the  like. 
We  have  to  thank  him  for  the  omission  of  the  tedious  medita- 
tions so  commonly  found  in  ministers'  diaries  of  that  time ; 
but  we  should  have  been  grateful  for  more  details  of  his  obser- 
vations among  the  various  Indian  tribes  he  visited,  the  condi- 
tion of  frontier  settlements  and  withal  for  an  opportunity  of 
studying  more  closely  this  most  remarkable  Indian  character. 
However,  we  are  able  thus  to  follow  him  through  many  criti- 
cal periods  of  his  life. 

As  we  have  stated,  Doctor  Wheelock  took  Occom  into  his 
home  without  any  expectation  of  receiving  assistance  in  his 
support.  The  widowed  mother  could  not  contribute  anything 
except  possibly  her  own  labor.  She  may  have  attempted  to 
do  this,  as  Indian  women  frequently  did  in  English  families, 
for  the  son  made  this  entry  in  his  diary  under  February  23, 
1744-45  :  "  Mater  mea  et  Duo  Libri  Ejus  Venierunt  ad  Domi- 
num  Wheelock  manere  ibi  Tempori."  There  is  a  tradition  at 
Columbia  that  Occom  lived  some  of  the  time  in  a  hut  which 
he  built  in  the  woods  some  distance  from  the  minister's  home. 
This  is  not  unlikely.     Soon   the   teacher  acquainted   some  of 

2'' The  following  parts  are  at  Dartmouth  College:  Dec.  6,  1743-Nov.  29,  1748; 
June  21,  1750-Feb.  9,  1751  ;  June  28,  1757-Sept.  7,  1760;  May  30,  1761-July  7, 
1761;  Nov.  21,  1765-July  23,  1766;  July  8,  1774-Aug.  14,1774;  May  8,  1784-April 
26,  1785;  May  I,  1785-Oct.  2,  1785  ;  Oct.  4,  1785-Dec.  4,  1785  ;  Dec.  5,  i  785-Jan. 
22,  1786;  June  26,4 786-Nov.  13,1786;  Dec.  11, 1786-April  7,  1787;  April  7,  1787- 
July  3,  1787;  Sept.  20,  1787-Dec.  4,  1787;  Dec.  10,  1787-Aug.  9,  1788;  May  u, 
1789-Sept.  18,  1789.  The  Connecticut  Historical  Society  has  one  part,  July  5,  1787 
to  Sept.  i6,  1787. 


A   MO  H EG  AN   YOUTH 


39 


his  friends  with  the  case  and  his  benevolent  purpose,  which 
resulted  in  some  contributions,  mostly  of  clothes — "  Some  old 
and  some  new  clothes,"  in  the  language  of  the  recipient. 
Finally  the  "Society  for  Propagating  the  Gospel"  became  in- 
terested, and  in  1745  the  commissioners  granted  an  allowance 
of  £(iO  old  tenor  per  annum  for  his  maintenance.  This  they 
continued  while  he  was  pursuing  his  studies.  During  one 
year,  1744-45,  on  account  of  circumstances  in  Mr.  Wheelock's 
home,  the  school  was  kept  at  Hebron  by  Alexander  Phelps, 
who  had  just  graduated  from  Yale  College.  His  course  was 
also  interrupted  from  time  to  time  by  journeys  to  visit  the 
Indians  at  Longmeadow,  Windham,  Niantic,  Groton  and  Long 
Island,  among  whom  he  held  meetings  with  an  evangelistic 
purpose.  One  reason  for  this  was  doubtless  the  necessity  for 
relief  from  constant  study,  to  which  he  had  not  been  accus- 
tomed. Indeed  he  at  length  so  overstrained  his  eyes  by  his 
earnest  application  to  his  books  that  he  was  unable  to  take 
the  course  which  had  been  designed  in  preparation  for  the 
ministry.  On  the  lOth  of  November,  1747,  after  nearly  four 
years  of  instruction,  he  left  Lebanon  to  take  charge  of  a  school 
in  some  part  ^of  New  London.  This  he  taught  during  the 
winter.  In  the  following  spring,  by  the  ^advice  of  the  neigh- 
boring ministers  with  whom  he  was  a  protege,  and  with  the 
encouragement  of  the  missionary  society,  he  came  under  the 
care  of  Rev.  Benjamin  Pomeroy  of  Hebron,  that  he  might  be 
further  instructed,  particularly  in  Hebrew.  How  much  of  this 
language  he  actually  acquired  we  do  not  know.  It  is  said, 
however,  that  he  was  able  to  translate  passages  with  ease,  and 
his  Hebrew  Bible,  which  has  survived,  bears  some  evidences 
of  use,-^     After  nearly  a  year  of  such  study  it  became  evident 

2'  Benedict  Theological  Library,  First  Church,  Plainfield,  Conn.  The  Bible  is  in 
two  volumes,  printed  at  Amsterdam  in  1705.  The  covers  of  deerskin  were  doubt- 
less Occom's  own  work.  At  some  time,  and  probably  after  the  owner's  death,  the 
volumes  came  into  the  hands  of  Rev.  Joel  Benedict,  D.  D.,  of  Plainfield,  by  whom 
they  were  given  with  his  library  to  the  church.     They  were  deposited  in  the  library 


40 


SAMSON  OCCOM 


that  his  eyes  would  not  permit  him  to  take  a  college  course. 
Still  it  was  hoped  that  he  might  study  theology  under  some 
minister,  and  Rev.  Solomon  Williams,  of  Lebanon,  was  solicited 
by  the  missionary  society  to  undertake  this  service.  He  would 
have  done  so,  being  always  a  faithful  friend,  but  unfortunately 
just  at  this  time,  in  the  winter  of  1748-49,  Occom  was  compelled 
by  his  health  to  give  up  all  study  for  a  time.  This  proved  to 
be  the  last  of  his  education  except  such  as  he  acquired  by  him- 
self. He  had  foreseen  for  some  time  that  such  would  be  the 
result,  and  though  it  somewhat  depressed  his  spirits,  he  was 
not  without  hope  that  he  might  find  some  field  in  which  to 
labor  for  his  degraded  people.  His  restless  ambition  had  not 
been  quenched.  A  missionary  zeal  was  still  aflame  in  his 
soul.  Probably  it  received  an  additional  impulse  when,  in 
November,  1748,  he  visited  the  Christian  Indians  at  Natick, 
and  heard  from  Deacon  Ephraim,  with  whom  he  lodged,  the 
story  of  John  Eliot's  labors.  He  must  then  have  learned 
about  that  famous  Indian  town,  its  founding  and  earlier  use- 
fulness, and  have  seen  but  too  clearly  the  evidences  of  its 
decay.  We  may  wonder  whether  that  visit  was  not  the  means 
of  suggesting  to  him  the  Indian  town  which  he  established 
years  afterwards.  It  must  at  least  have  set  him  to  thinking 
upon  the  problem  of  civilizing  his  people  in  New  England, 
who  were  being  hemmed  in  on  all  sides  by  the  whites. 

As  to  the  education  which  Samson  Occom  had  thus  ac- 
quired it  is  not  possible  to  speak  as  one  might  now,  after  the 
completion  of  a  course  of  study  in  our  schools.  He  certainly 
had  an  ample  preparation  for  Yale  College,  whither  it  was  pro- 
posed to  send  him.  Rev.  Samuel  Buell  says  of  him :  He  made 
such  "Progress  in  Learning  that  he  was  so  well  fitted  for 
Admittance  into  College  (which  was  designed)  that  he  doubt- 

of  the  Connecticut  Historical  Society  for  safe  keeping  in  185 1, and  were  reclaimed  in 
1890.  Occom's  Hebrew  Grammar  is  in  Dartmouth  College  Library— the  work  by 
Judah  Monis,  Boston,  N.  E.,  printed  by  Jonas  Green  in  1735.  ^^  ^'^'^  evidently  used 
by  Occom  in  174S. 


A    MO  H EG  AN   YOUTH 


41 


less  would  have  entered  upon  his  Second  year  at  his  first 
admission."^*  His  knowledoje  of  the  languages  and  mathe- 
matics was  probably  limited  to  what  he  learned  in  Doctor 
Wheelock's  family  school.  He  is  known  also  to  have  studied 
music,  which  was  a  daily  exercise  in  the  minister's  home.  In 
his  letters  and  sermons  he  shows  a  familiarity  with  English 
grammar  and  composition  which  it  was  difficult  for  an  Indian 
to  acquire.  Yet  it  must  not  be  supposed  that  Occom  was  a 
scholar  judged  by  present  standards,  or  even  by  the  English 
youth  of  his  day.  His  main  attainment  was  a  knowledge  of 
the  Scriptures,  which  he  had  studied  with  a  living  interest. 
He  had  not  gathered  any  treasures  of  theology  with  which  to 
fill  his  discourses ;  but  he  understood  and  held  with  intel- 
lectual vigor  and  clearness  the  principal  doctrines  of  the 
Christian  faith.  In  these  it  had  been  his  teacher's  aim  to 
establish  him.  This  was  the  education  which  was  demanded 
in  his  life's  mjssion.  With  his  native  aptitude  at  illustrating 
these  truths  he  was  fitted  to  become  a  useful  teacher  among 
his  brethren. 

-*  Buell's  Sertnon  at  the  Ordination  of  Occom  ;   Letter,  p.  vii. 


«  CHAPTER    III 

THE    INDIAN    TEACHER    AT    MONTAUK 
1749-1761 

The  eastern  extremity  of  Long  Island,  known  as  Montauk, 
has  been  from  time  immemorial  a  favorite  resort  of  Indians. 
Its  famous  fishing  and  hunting  grounds  made  subsistence 
easy,  and  in  the  season  attracted  the  natives  from  a  distance. 
Here  the  Montauk  tribe,  well  known  in  the  early  history  of 
the  New  England  Indians,  made  their  home.  It  was  their 
privilege,  about  the  middle  of  the  eighteenth  century,  to  live 
at  large  on  the  lands  anciently  possessed  by,  the  tribe,  but 
they  seemed  to  have  a  particular  title  to  a  tract  west  of  the 
Great  Pond,  called  "North  Neck,"  and  to  another  east  of  the 
same  called  "  Indian  Field,"  which  now  is  only  peopled  with 
lonely  graves.  In  1741  a  census  was  taken  of  these  Indians, 
and  they  were  reported  to  comprise  thirty-two  families  and 
one  hundred  and  sixty-two  souls,  which  is  about  the  same  as  a 
statement  made  by  Rev.  Solomon  Williams  to  Secretary 
Willard  ten  years  later.^  The  prominent  families  had  then 
assumed  surnames  such  as  Pharaoh,  Fowler,  Peter  and 
Charles.  Except  in  a  few  cases  they  were  unable  to  speak 
the  English  language,  and  lived  according  to  their  heathen 
customs.  Since  1741  some  missionary  service  had  been  done 
among  them  at  intervals  by  Rev.  Azariah  Horton,  who  was 
principally  engaged  with  the  Shinnecock  Indians  under  the 
patronage  of  the  New  York  correspondents  of  the  "  Society  in 

^Mass.  Hist  Soc.  Coll.,  I,  vol.  x,  p.   no.     MS.  Lett.,  July  24,  1751,  in  posses- 
sion of  Mrs.  B.  E.  Hooker,  Hartford. 

42 


THE   INDIAN-   TEACHER   AT  MONTAUK  43 

Scotland  for  Propagating  Christian  Knowledge."^  He  had 
followed  in  the  wake  of  Rev.  James  Davenport,  already  men- 
tioned, who  as  minister  at  Southold  had  occasionally  preached 
among  the  Indians.  Mr.  Horton's  work  declined  as  the  years 
passed,  notwithstanding  his  faithfulness,  and  in  1750  he  was 
ready  to  surrender  his  field  to  another. 

In  the  month  of  November,  1749,  Samson  Occom,  then  in 
his  twenty-seventh  year,  began  a  work  at  Montauk  as  school- 
master, preacher  and  judge,  which  continued  for  nearly  twelve 
years.  His  service  was  greatly  blessed  to  the  permanent 
elevation  of  some  in  that  tribe  who  have  a  prominent  place  in 
our  story.  He  had  previously  sought  for  employment  as  a 
teacher  at  Niantic  and  Narragansett ;  but  at  the  former  place 
they  had  a  schoolmaster  and  at  the  latter  they  were  quite 
indifferent  in  the  matter.  Occom  had  visited  Montauk  while 
he  was  yet  a  pupil  at  Doctor  Wheelock's  school.  He  had 
some  acquaintance  with  the  Indians  there  and  their  language 
was  his  own.  It  chanced,  however,  that  he  went  thither  in  the 
summer  of  1749,  with  some  of  his  tribe  on  a  fishing  excursion. 
He  was  something  of  a  fisherman  himself;  but  he  was  more 
interested  in  men  just  then  than  in  the  denizens  of  the 
briny  deep.  So  he  left  his  companions  at  their  employment 
and  went  among  the  wigwams  to  hold  meetings.  He  was 
kindly  received  and  continued  some  weeks  in  this  service. 
Ere  the  time  came  for  the  party  to  return,  the  Indians  had 
invited  him  to  come  and  set  up  a  school  among  them.  The 
only  support  offered  him  was  such  as  they  could  contribute 
themselves,  and  they  were  very  poor.     He  immediately  com- 

^Azariah  Horton  was  the  son  of  Jonathan  and  Mary  (Tuthill)  Horton,  and  was 
born  in  the  "  Old  Castle,"  at  Southold,  L.  I.,  March  20,  1715.  He  graduated  at 
Yale  College  in  1735,  studied  theology,  and  for  a  time  preached  at  New  Providence, 
N.  J.  In  1 741  he  was  ordained  by  the  Presbytery  of  New  York  with  a  view  to  his 
mission  which  he  began  in  August  of  that  year.  He  continued  in  this  work  until 
i75i,andthe  year  following  was  installed  as  pastor  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in 
South  Hanover  (Bottle  Hill),  N.  J.,  where  he  labored  to  his  death,  March  27,  i777-— 
Dexter's  Yale  Biographies,  I,  536,  537;  Prime's  Hist,  of  L.  /.,  pp.  104-110;  and 
Whitaker's  Hist,  of  Southold,  pp.  265-269. 


44  SAMSON  OCCOM 

municated  with  Doctor  Wheelock,  expressing  his  fear  that  the 
commissioners,  being  displeased  at  his  leaving  his  studies, 
would  not  favor  his  engagement  or  grant  him  their  assistance. 
On  the  loth  of  July,  as  appears  from  their  records,  they  had 
"  voted  that  inasmuch  as  Samson  Occom  is  taken  off  from  his 
studies  by  a  pain  in  his  eyes,  Mr.  Williams  of  Lebanon  be 
asked  to  advise  in  the  affair  as  lo  his  keeping  school  or 
engaging  in  manual  labor  and  on  his  recovery  they  would  be 
willing' to  help  him  and  in  the  meantime  allow  what  is  neces- 
sary toward  effecting  a  cure."  In  view  of  this  action  Doctor 
Wheelock  replied  to  Occom  on  the  6th  of  September  advising 
him  to  take  the  school  for  six  months  pending  his  restoration 
and  on.  the  same  sheet  Mr.  Williams  wrote  to  the  same  effect.* 
Thereupon  Occom  agreed  with  the  Indians  to  return  soon  and 
teach  a  school  for  six  months  as  an  experiment.  We  are  thus 
particular  because  there  was  a  misunderstanding  in  the  matter. 
Occom  and  his  advisers  thought  the  missionary  society  would 
grant  him  an  allowance  in  this  work,  but  the  commissioners 
were  not  intending  to  do  so.  During  the  first  two  years  he 
received  nothing  from  them  towards  his  support.  Then  at  the 
earnest  solicitation  of  friends,  among  them  Messrs.  Williams 
of  Lebanon  and  Buell  of  Easthampton,  L.  I.,  and  upon  the 
testimony  of  Mr.  Horton  as  to  the  value  of  his  labors,  they 
made  him  a  beneficiary  of  the  society.  Occom  afterwards 
wrote  that  during  his  years  at  Montauk  they  granted  him  in 
all  ;^i8o.  This  will  explain  the  trials  of  his  early  experiences. 
His  circumstances  were  those  of  poverty.  During  the  first 
term  of  six  months  the  Indians  gave  him  besides  his  board 
£\o  York  money,  to  which  some  English  friends  added  about 
forty  shillings.  His  annual  salary  from  the  missionary  society 
was  only  ^20.  The  young  Uncas  at  Mohegan  had  received 
three  times  that  sum.  We  shall  not  wonder,  therefore,  at  find- 
ing that  he  became  involved  in  debt,  in  which  the  missionary 

^Wheelock  Papers,  Lett.,  Sept.  6,  1749. 


THE   INDIAN   TEACHER   AT  MONT  AUK  45 

society  at  the  entreaty  of  his  friends  generously  aided  him. 
More  especially,  however,  do  we  refer  to  this  matter  because 
Occom  always  felt  that  he  did  not  receive  an  adequate  sup- 
port. It  seems  to  have  been  a  sore  point  with  this  sensitive 
Indian  that  white  missionaries  doing  the  same  service  were  given 
larger  salaries.  He  thought  he  ought  to  receive  at  least  half  as 
much  as  his  white  brother  and  expressed  himself  as  "willing 
to  leave  it  with  the  world  as  wicked  as  it  is,  to  decide."  The 
saints,  however,  never  came  to  his  view  of  the  matter.  They 
gave  him  such  remuneration  as  they  had  other  native  teachers. 
Thus  his  feelings  were  wounded  by  the  suspicion  that  a  dis- 
tinction was  made  against  him  because  of  his  race.  He  was 
compelled  to  toil  on,  as  he  did  throughout  all  his  days,  in  pov- 
erty. Sometimes,  he  says,  he  was  in  actual  need  of  the  neces- 
saries of  life.  He  had  a  large  measure  of  Indian  pride  which 
would  not  permit  him  to  beg.  In  consequence  he  was  at 
times  diverted  from  his  service  to  engage  in  manual  labor. 
At  the  same  time  it  should  be  said  that  Occom  was  not  an 
economical  manager  of  his  affairs.  The  Indian  instinct  was 
strong  in  him  to  eat  while  he  had  the  means  and  leave  the 
future  to  provide  for  itself.  He  profited  much  by  his  expe- 
rience in  all  these  respects  as  he  grew  in  years  and  became 
settled  in  the  ways  of  civilized  life. 

Yet  this  inadequate  provision  for  his  support  at  Montauk 
did  not  discourage  him.  He  took  up  his  work  with  zeal  and 
wisdom.  The  first  winter  he  gathered  about  thirty  scholars 
into  his  school,  and  instructed  in  the  evening  such  as  could 
not  attend  during  the  day.  As  a  teacher  he  was  always  suc- 
cessful. He  had  a  kindergarten  method  of  his  own  in  teach- 
ing the  alphabet.  Finding  that  the  children  could  distinguish 
the  letters  by  ear,  but  could  not  so  well  by  sight,  he  cut  let- 
ters out  of  paper,  pasted  them  on  cedar  chips,  and  at  his 
word  the  one  named  would  be  brought  to  him  out  of  the  pile. 
Such  ingenuity  was  characteristic  of  him  in   his  teaching.      By 


46  SAMSON  OCCOM  * 

these  means  he  soon  aroused  an  interest  in  learning  among 
his  pupils,  and  under  his  native  patience  they  progressed 
rapidly,  advancing  from  the  primer  to  the  reading  of  the  Bible. 

In  addition  to  his  labors  as  schoolmaster,  he  began  religious 
ministrations  among  the  Indians,  in  which  he  shortly  suc- 
ceeded Mr.  Horton.  On  the  Sabbath  he  conducted  three 
services  for  worship,  and  a  wigwam  meeting  was  also  held 
every  Wednesday  evening.  In  these  assemblies  he  prayed, 
expounded  the  Scriptures  in  his  native  tongue,  and  led  in  the 
singing  of  Christian  hymns,  which  he  taught  old  and  young. 
This  work  was  a  means  of  educating  him  for  his  missionary 
life.  It  concentrated  his  interest  in  the  study  of  the  Bible, 
which  was  about  the  only  book  he  then  owned.  Even  in 
1756,  Wheelock  wrote  Whitefield  that  Occom  had  "  scarce  any 
books  but  what  he  borrowed,"  and  asked  for  a  copy  of  Poole's 
Annotations.  This  was  given  him,  and  the  same  year  he 
received  from  the  missionary  society  a  "  Commonplace  book 
to  the  Bible,"  and  Cruden's  Concordance.  As  was  natural, 
the  natives  soon  came  to  regard  him  as  their  minister.  He 
visited  their  sick  and  attended  their  funerals.  As  they  had 
letters  to  write  or  legal  documents  to  draw  up  they  went  to 
him.  So  great  was  their  confidence  in  his  character  that  they 
frequently  made  him  a  judge  over  them  to  settle  matters  in 
dispute.  This  was  a  similar  office  to  that  which  Eliot  had 
established  among  his  Christian  Indians,  and  possibly  Occom 
imitated  this  custom.  Thus  he  soon  attained  a  great  influence 
among  all  the  natives  in  those  parts  of  Long  Island. 

Occom  lived  while  at  Montauk  in  the  same  simple  manner 
as  the  Indians  thereabouts.  His  home  was  a  wigwam.  In 
the  summer  season  it  was  near  the  planting-grounds,  and  in 
the  winter  he  removed  with  the  tribe  so  as  to  be  near  the 
woodland.  His  household  effects  were  no  great  embarrass- 
ment to  a  sudden  and  easy  migration — the  simple  utensils  of 
Indian    cookery,   a    few    clothes,  well    worn,    except    the    suit 


THE   INDIAN   TEACHER   AT  MO  NT  A  UK  47 

which  he  reserved  for  appearances  among  the  whites,  the 
dozen  books,  more  or  less,  which  he  could  easily  carry  in  his 
saddle-bags,  and  the  odds  and  ends  of  an  Indian's  wigwam 
life.  All  these,  to  which  he  doubtless  added  as  he  came  to 
have  a  family,  he  lost  at  sea  afterwards  when  he  removed  to 
Mohegan.  Many  times  in  his  life  he  had  occasion  to  remark 
upon  the  "  adverse  providences  "  which  depleted  his  store  of 
worldly  possessions.  We  read,  with  some  amusement,  the  seri- 
ous narration  of  his  experiences.  He  bought  a  mare  with  which 
to  travel  to  and  fro  among  his  Montauk  parishioners,  but  she 
fell  into  a  quicksand.  He  purchased  another,  but  some 
rogue  stole  her  from  him.  The  third  died  of  the  distemper. 
The  fourth  had  a  colt  and  then  broke  her  leg,  and  "  present- 
ly after  the  colt  died  also,"  whereupon  he  gave  up  the  attempt 
to  maintain  such  luxury,  and  traveled  afoot.  The  understand- 
ing when  he  began  4iis  work  was  that  the  Indians  would  take 
turns  in  providing  him  with  food.  Doubtless  this  plan  left 
him  to  keep  too  many  unappointed  fast  days,  for  he  tells  us 
he  was  compelled  to  resort  to  hunting  and  fishing  to  supply 
the  necessary  food  to  his  family.  In  both  of  these  ojccupa- 
tions  he  was  expert,  and  it  was  well  for  him  on  many  an  occa- 
sion of  his  life  that  he  was.  He  also  worked  in  wood,  making 
spoons,  ladles,  gun-stocks,  pails,  piggins  and  churijs.  A 
tract  of  land  was  assigned  to  him,  and  this  he  also  tilled, 
sometimes  with  the  assistance  of  his  pupils.  In  1755,  he  tells 
us,  he  had  "four  acres  of  good  corn."  His  most  novel 
employment,  however,  was  that  of  binding  old  books  for  the 
English  people  at  Easthampton  and  other  settlements.  If 
any  of  the  books  of  Rev.  Samuel  Buell  have  survived,  there  is 
doubtless,  among  them  a  specimen  of  his  work,  the  value 
of  which  would  be  enhanced  if  it  could  be  identified  as  from 
this  wigwam  bookbindery.  So  he  labored,  many  a  time  at 
night  by  the  light  of  a  smoking  torch,  that  he  might  keep  the 
wolf  from  the  door. 


48  SAMSON  OCCOM 

After  Occom  had  been  at  Montauk  nearly  six  months,  the 
question  arose  as  to  the  continuance  of  his  mission  there. 
He  wrote  Doctor  Wheelock  on  the  matter,  and  received  the 
following  reply : 

[My  Dear]  Samson 

Yours  by  the  Bearer  [came]  to  my  Hand  the  n'ght  before  last.  I  've 
wrote  to  Mr.  Horton  what  I  know  &  can  say  in  y""  case  of  your  continuance 
in  Y  school  6  months  longer.  I  perceive  the  Hon^*^  Com*  are  very  unwill- 
ing to  give  up  the  purpose  of  your  being  fitted  for  the  ministry  if  it  may  be 
&  so  is  Mr.  Wi.liams — &  my  own  disposition  you  have  known  has  al  along 
been  so.  If  you  are  well  to  persue  your  studies  I  cant  but  think  it  advisable 
to  return  to  them,  if  otherwise  you  may  safely  continue  in  the  school.  D' 
Child,  watch  against  pride  &  self  esteem.  Pray  much.  Accept  Love  from 
me  &  all  my  family.     I  am 

Yours  affectionately 
Leb"  Apr  3,  A.  D.  1750.  Eleaz^  Wheelock.* 

So  it  happened  that  Occom  continued  another  six  months  at 
Montauk,  and  at  the  expiration  of  that  time  he  engaged  him- 
self again.  When  he  had  been  there  a  year  and  a  half  Rev. 
Aaron  Burr,  acting  in  behalf  of  the  New  York  correspondents 
of  the  "  Society  in  Scotland  for  Propagating  Christian  Knowl- 
edge," invited  him  to  come  to  New  Jersey  and  labor  in  the 
mission  then  under  the  care  of  Rev.  John  Brainerd  and  go  on 
a  journey  to  Susquehanna.  The  consent  of  the  commissioners 
at  Boston  was  secured,  with  their  pledge  of  support,  but  hostil- 
ities among  the  Indians  in  those  parts  made  it  necessary  to 
abandon  the  plan.  By  this  time  the  success  of  his  work  had 
become  known.  The  missionary  society  came  to  his  assist- 
ance. President  Burr  became  so  interested  in  him  that  he 
secured  a  pledge  from  a  merchant  of  Philadelphia,  Mr.  Grant, 
*'  a  dear,  honest  Christian,"  to  do  very  considerable  towards 
his  support  if  he  would  qualify  himself  to  become  a  licensed 
preacher  to  the  Indians."     Occom  would  gladly  have  accepted 

••  Conn.  Hist.  Soc.  Indian  Papers. 

G  Conn.  Hist.  Soc.  Indian  Papers^  Jonathan  Badger  to  Samson  Occom,  April  19 

1755- 


THE   INDIAN   TEACHER   AT  MONTAUK 


49 


the  offer  had  he  thought  his  health  sufficient  for  the  study.  He 
had  come  to  see  that  he  must  have  more  out-of-door  service. 
This  he  had  at  Montauk.  He  was  also  unwilling  to  leave  a 
work  so  promising.  The  Indians  there  had  measurably  ad- 
vanced in  civilization.  They  had  begun  to  want  houses,  to 
clothe  themselves  like  the  whites,  to  live  orderly  and  sober 
lives.  A  revival  of  religion  brought  some  to  avow  Christian- 
ity. Mr.  Horton  testified  that  Occom's  sensible  view  of  the 
nature  of  true  religion  was  the  means  of  quenching  the  wild 
notions  of  some  foolish  exhorters,  holding  the  opinions  then  so 
prevalent  in  southern  New  England.^  The  Christian  Indians 
of  Occom's  day  were  strongly  inclined  to  Separatism,  as  we 
shall  have  occasion  to  notice.  Throughout  his  life,  as  well  as 
thus  early  at  Montauk,  Samson  Occom  was  never  the  victim 
of  any  idiosyncrasies  of  religion. 

On  the  1 2th  of  November,  1756,  the  commissioners  of  the 
''  Society  for  Propagating  the  Gospel "  having  before  them 
Occom's  case,  passed  the  following  vote  :  "  Inasmuch  as  said 
Sampson  is  represented  to  be  a  person  of  virtuous  life  and  use- 
ful as  a  preacher  to  the  Indians,  the  commissioners  would  rec- 
ommend to  Rev.  Mr.  Wheelock,  Mr.  Pomeroy,  and  other  min- 
isters of  the  same  Association  to  consider  of  the  expediency 
of  his  being  ordained  to  the  pastoral  office  and  to  proceed  to 
do  it  as  they  shall  think  best."^  This  step  was  suggested  on 
many  accounts.  It  had  been  all  along  Occom's  desire.  He 
was  then  doing  the  service  of  a  minister,  and  his  ordination 
would  bring  him  into  fellowship  with  his  brethren  and  friends 
for  his  profit.  Moreover,  it  was  foreseen  that  a  larger  field  than 
the  Montauk  village  would  soon  claim  him  and  to  that  end  his 
ordination  was  considered  preparatory.  The  Windham  Asso- 
ciation considered  the  matter  as  requested.  On  the  i3lh  of 
July,  1757,  they  met  at  the  house  of  Rev.  Solomon  Williams  in 

«  McClure's  Mevi.  of  Wheelock,  p.  17  ;  Wheelock'' s  Narrative,  17^13,  p.  29. 
^  MS  Rec.  Soc.  for  Prop.  Cos. 
5 


50  SAMSON  OCCOM 

Lebanon.  Their  records  contain  no  notice  of  this  meeting, 
but  Wheelock  referred  to  it  and  in  his  diary  Occom  makes  the 
following  entry  concerning  it  : 

They  came  together  about  one  o'c  P.  M.— and  there  I  Passed  an  Examina- 
tion Before  the  Rev^  Messrs  Solomon  Williams,  Eleazar  Wheelock,  Benja- 
min Pomroy,  Nathan  Strong,  and  Stephen  White, — and  they  were  so  far 
satisfied  as  to  Conclude  to  proceed  to  an  ordination  hereafter. 

This  was  equivalent  to  a  license  to  preach  if  not  actually 
such,  and  with  this  encouragement  Occom  resumed  his  work 
at  Montauk.  The  winter  following  was  one  of  great  awaken- 
ing among  the  Indians.  It  spread  from  the  Montauks  to  other 
neighboring  tribes.^  This  led  Rev.  Samuel  Davies  of  Virginia, 
afterwards  president  of  the  College  of  New  Jersey,  to  urge  his 
ordination  with  a  view  to  his  undertaking  a  mission  among  the 
Cherokee  Indians,  under  the  patronage  of  the  New  York  cor- 
respondents of  the  Scotch  Society,  which  had  also  been  con- 
templated by  the  London  Society.  The  former  board  also 
considered  the  ordination  question  and  referred  it  to  the  Pres- 
bytery of  Long  Island,  two  of  whose  members,  Rev.  Messrs. 
Buell  and  Brown,  had  warmly  commended  Occom  to  them. 
Hence  there  were  cross-purposes  and  delays,  the  candidate 
wondering  meanwhile  that  there  should  be  so  much  discussion 
over  the  ordination  of  one  poor  Indian.  The  Boston  commis- 
sioners rather  wished  to  make  a  Congregationalist  of  him,  and 
so  referred  the  matter  to  the  Windham  Association.  They 
subsequently  agreed,  however,  to  release  Occom  for  the  Cher- 
okee mission  or  they  would  increase  his  salary  to  ^30  if  he  re- 
mained at  Montauk.  The  Association  had  no  hesitation  as  to 
ordaining  Occom,  as  one  might  infer  from  their  records,  but 
they  thought  it  best  for  him  to  unite  with  the  Presbytery  if  he 
was  to  engage  under  Presbyterians  in  the  Cherokee  mission. 
The   Indian   was  willing   to  be  ordained   by  either  body  and 

^  Wheelock  Papers,  Lett.  July  22,  1758. 


THE   INDIAN   TEACHER   AT  MONTAUK  51 

labor  under  any  board  ;  but  he  felt  his  obligations  to  his  friends 
in-  the  Windham  Association,  and  would  not  proceed  without 
their  approval.  Finally  that  body  met  at  Lebanon  on  the  15th 
of  May,  1759,  and  Occom  was  present  to  hear  their  decision. 
Of  this  meeting  their  records  contain  the  following  minute  : 

The  Association  being  by  Mr.  Wheelock  requested  to  ordain  Mr.  Sam- 
son Occum,  Indian,  a  Minister  at  large  for  the  Indians,  thought  it  inexpe- 
dient for  them,  but  recommended  the  doing  of  it  to  the  Long  Island  Pres- 
bytery if  they  think  best. 

They  also  wrote  a  letter  to  that  body  which  Occom  carried 
to  his  friend.  Rev.  Samuel  Buell.  Thus  it  came  to  pass  that 
this  Indian  minister  became  a  Presbyterian,  which  has  been 
thought  strange.  It  was  in  fact  merely  incidental  to  his  ex- 
pectation of  going  on  a  mission  to  the  Cherokees  under  the 
Scotch  Society. 

The  Presbytery  appointed  the  29th  of  August  as  the  time 
for  his  ordination,  and  Easthampton  as  the  place.  A  few  days 
before  that  time  news  came  of  warlike  disturbances  among 
the  Cherokees,  which  overturned  the  contemplated  scheme. 
Had  those  Indians  only  dug  up  the  tomahawk  a  few  months 
earlier,  Occom  would  have  been  without  doubt  a  Congrega- 
tionalist  and  a  member  of  the  Windham  Association.  How- 
ever, the  Presbyterian  fathers  had  another  plan  of  sending  him 
to  the  Mohawks,  which  seemed  thus  providentially  brought 
forward,  and  so  the  ordination  went  on  according  to  pro- 
gram. The  following  account  of  the  occasion  is  given  in 
their  records  : 

Suffolk  Presbytery,  East  Hampton,  August  29,  1759. 

Sampson  Occum  candidate  for  the  Indian  Mission  having  had  a  Text 
given  him  to  compose  a  Trial  Sermon  upon,  and  a  Subject  for  an  Exegesis, 
now  offered  himself  upon  Examination  with  a  view  to  ordination.  The 
Presbytery  entred  upon  the  Preliminaries  of  his  Ordination  and  having 
examined  him  in  the  learned  languages,  enterd  upon  Theology,  and  heard 
his  Trial  Sermon  from  Psalm  72.  9. 


52  SAMSON  OCCOM 

August  30th  8  o'clock  Resum'd  the  Examination  of  Mr.  Occum — And 
having  attended  his  Exegesis,  and  finish'd  his  Trials  in  Divinity,  with  other 
Things  relative  thereto,  Inquir'd  into  his  Acquaintance  with  experimental 
Religion  together  with  his  Ends  and  Views  in  desiring  to  be  introduced 
into  the  Work  of  the  evangelical  Ministry  by  Ordination  &c — And  then 
upon  an  Interloquitur,  the  Question  being  put  by  the  Moderator — Whether 
this  Presbytery  approves  of  Mr.  Occum  as  one  in  any  good  Measure  quali- 
fied for  the  Work  of  the  Gospel  Ministry,  especially  among  the  aboriginal 
Natives  of  this  Land  or  not?  Resolved  in  the  Affirmative.  Then  proceeded 
to  the  Ordination  of  Mr.  Sampson  Occum  in  the  Meeting-House,  a  numer- 
ous assembly,  upon  Notification  given,  attending. 

Mr.  Buell  began  the  publick  Worship  with  Prayer — and  preach'd  the 
Ordination  Sermon  from  Gal.  i.  16 — Mr.  Browne  introduc'd  the  Solemnity 
of  the  Ordination  and  made  the  Ordination  Prayer  during  the  Imposition 
of  Hands — Mr.  Barker  gave  the  Right-hand  of  Fellowship — Mr.  Prime 
gave  the  charge  and  made  the  concluding  Prayer — Mr.  Occum,  the  candi- 
date ordain'd,  pointed  out  the  Psalm  and  pronounced  the  Blessing. 

This  ordination  was  certainly  at  that  day  an  interesting  occa- 
sion. It  was  remembered  years  afterwards  by  many  who  were 
present  as  most  impressive.  There  had  never  been  there- 
abouts such  a  vivid  portrayal  of  the  missionary  idea  as  the 
people  beheld  when  the  ministers  present  laid  hands  on  the 
head  of  the  young  Mohegan  teacher.  Some  of  his  Indian 
converts  were  conspicuous  in  the  audience — a  solemn  justi- 
fication of  the  act.  Many  of  his  English  friends  were  there, 
with  whom  he  was  decidedly  popular.  The  ministers  them- 
selves looked  upon  it  as  a  new  departure  in  the  history  of 
Indian  missions.  In  after  years,  when  Occom  had  attained 
some  fame,  he  was  welcomed  many  times  in  the  meeting-house 
at  Easthampton  and  those  friends  of  Tiis  early  ministry  were 
ever  dear  to  him. 

It  should  here  be  noted  that  the  examination  to  which 
Occom  was  subjected  was  no  mere  formality.  He  must  have 
had  some  creditable  knowledge  of  the  "learned  languages"  to 
have  passed  any  sort  of  an  examination  before  the  assembled 
divines.  The  text  of  his  "  Trial  Sermon  "  was  most  fitting, 
"They  that  dwell  in  the  wilderness  shall  bow  before  him  ;  and 


THE   INDIAN   TEACHER   AT  MONTAUK 


53 


his  enemies  shall  lick  the  dust."  It  was  trial  enough  for  an 
Indian  to  preach  at  all  before  a  Presbytery,  yet  he  is  said  to 
have  acquitted  himself  well.  What  he  said  on  the  text  that 
day  we  do  not  know ;  but  he  afterwards  chose  it  on  more  than 
one  occasion  in  discoursing  to  large  audiences  in  England  and 
America.  He  was  probably  relieved  when  the  occasion  was 
over,  for  in  noting  the  facts  in  his  diary  he  adds,  "Thus  the 
solemnity  ended,  Laus  te  Denm.'' 

The  ordination  sermon,  preached  by  Mr.  Buell,  was  printed 
in  1 761,  as  a  means  to  excite  interest  in  the  Oneida  mission, 
which  Occom  was  then  about  to  undertake.''  A  letter  is  added 
to  the  sermon  giving  some  account  of  his  early  life.  All  the 
references  to  him  are  creditable.  His  talents  seem  at  that 
time  to  have  been  recognized  by  all  who  knew  him.  "  In 
short,"  says  Mr.  Buell,  "he  is  an  ornament  to  the  Christian 
Religion  and  the  glory  of  the  Indian  nation." 

Ere  we  end  our  review  of  this  period  of  Samson  Occom's 
life  we  .must  make  the  acquaintance  of  some  of  his  Indian 
friends.  One  of  the  most  influential  Indians  at  Montauk 
when  Occom  went  there  to  begin  his  work  was  James  Prowler. 
His  father  or  grandfather  had  doubtless  taken  the  English 
name  of  some  white  family,  as  the  custom  was  even  before  the 
year  1700.  The  census  of  1741  mentions  James  Fowler  as 
the  head  of  a  family  of  eight.  At  least  half  of  these  were 
children,  and  others  were  afterwards  born  to  him  and  his  wife 
Elizabeth.       Some  of.  his    descendants   continued   to   live    at 

••The    Excellence   and    Importance  of   the   saving  knowledge  |  of  the  Lord  Jesus 
Christ   in   the  Gospel-Preacher,  |  plainly   and   seriously   represented  and  enforced: 
And  I  Christ   preached   to   the   Gentiles   in    Obedience  to   the  Call   of  God.  |  A  | 
Sermon,  |  preached  at  |  East-Hampton,  August  29,  1759;  |  at  the  |  Ordination  |  of  | 
Mr.  Samson  Occum,  |  A  Missionary  among  the  Indians.  \  By  Samuel  Buell,  M.  A.  | 
Pastor   of    the   Church    of  Christ,  at    East-Hampton,  |  Long-Island.  |  To  which  is 
Prefixed,  |  A  Letter  to  the  Rev.  Mr.  David  Bostwick,  Minister  |  of  the  Presbyterian 
Cinuch,  in  New  York,  giving  |  some  Account  of  Mr.  Occunvs  Education,  Character, 
&c.  I  ....  I  New  York  :  |  Printed  by  James  Parker,  and  Company,  |  M.  DCC.  LXL  | 
S°  pp.  xvi,  viii,  38. 


54  samsojv  occoa/ 

Montauk  down  to  quite  recent  times.  One  of  them  was 
doubtless  William  Fowler,  who  was  well  known  at  the  ancient 
home  of  his  tribe  by  all  visitors,  and  whose  house  stood  as  a 
landmark  for  many  years  and  was  only  lately  destroyed.  In 
this  family  of  James  Fowler,  then  a  heathen,  living  in  an  In- 
dian wigwam,  Occom  found  a  welcome  in  1749.  The  chil- 
dren attended  his  school,  and  he  took  unusual  interest  in 
them,  for  they  were  ambitious  to  learn.  As  there  was  a 
daughter  in  the  family,  Mary  by  name,  intelligent,  virtuous 
and  comely,  it  was  natural  that  a  friendship  should  spring  up 
between  her  and  the  young  schoolmaster.  His  diary  shows 
that  his  attention  in  the  spring  of  1751  was  somewhat  divided 
between  the  Epistles  to  the  Thessalonians  and  this  Indian 
maiden.  When  he  visited  Rev.  Solomon  Williams  that  sum- 
mer, he  mentioned  the  affair,  but  was  advised  "to  be  cautious 
in  choosing  a  wife  lest  he  should  put  himself  in  such  circum- 
stances as  might  render  him  less  able  to  answer  the  design  of 
his  education,  being  uncertain  where  the  commissioners  would 
employ  him."  Occom  answered,  however,  that  "his  marrying 
there  would  not  prevent  his  readiness  to  go  where  the  com- 
missioners should  please  to  send  him  either  on  the  Island  or 
on  the  main."  ^*^  Soon  after  his  return  to  Montauk,  in  the 
autumn  of  1751,  he  was  married,  and  Mary  Fowler  was  there- 
after a  partner  in  the  trials  and  toils  of  his  missionary  life. 

The  family  of  James  Fowler  received  a  lifelong  impression 
through  the  instruction  of  the  Montauk  schoolmaster.  They 
became  thoroughly  civilized.  The  parents  accepted  the 
Christian  faith,  lived  to  age,  and  died  in  it — the  father  at 
Montauk  and  the  mother  in  the  home  of  her  son  David  on  the 
Oneida  hillside.  Another  daughter,  Phoebe,  married  Ephraim 
Pharaoh — of  a  second  family  at  Montauk  who  owed  much  to 
Occom— and  they  were  staunch  supporters  of  the  missionary's 
subsequent  plans  for  the   Christian   Indians.     But   the   most 

^^  MS.  Lett.  Solomon  Williams,  Oct.  7,  1751,  in  poss.  of  Mrs.  Hooker. 


THE   INDIAN   TEACHER   AT  nrONTAUA'  55 

conspicuous  of  the  Montauk  pupils  were  the  two  sons  of 
James  Fowler,  David  and  Jacob,  who  henceforth  become 
actors  in  our  story.  David  was  born  in  1735,  and  was  there- 
fore fourteen  years  of  age  when  the  schoolmaster  began  his 
work.  Jacob  was  born  in  1750 — a  babe  whom  Occom  often 
carried  in  his  arms.  These  two  lads,  whom  he  taught  to  read 
in  the  Bible,  his  brothers-in-law,  became  the  dearest  friends  of 
his  life,  and  their  services  are   interwoven  with  his  to  the  end. 


CHAPTER   IV 

WHEELOCK's    INDIAN    CHARITY    SCHOOL 
1754-1770 

The  success  of  Samson  Occom  in  acquiring  an  education, 
and  the  prospect  of  his  usefulness,  first  suggested  to  the  Rev. 
Eleazar  Wheelock  the  introduction  of  Indians  into  his  family 
school.  A  missionary  zeal  all  aflame  in  one  so  recently  a 
savage  was  an  awakening  fact.  Missionary  motives  were  kin- 
dled in  the  teacher's  mind.  As  his  pupil  seemed  to  prosper  in 
the  school  at  Montauk  and  advance  steadily  toward  the  life  of  an 
Indian  missionary,  supported  by  existing  societies,  and  gather- 
ing to  the  cause  friends  among  the  whites,  the  question 
naturally  arose,  why  could  not  others  be  brought  to  follow 
his  example  ?  Thus  Doctor  Wheelock  was  led  to  devise  a 
plan  for  propagating  the  gospel  among  the  Indians  which  he 
thought  with  good  reason  was  most  feasible.  In  its  prominent 
feature  it  was  different  from  all  other  schemes  which  had  been 
attempted  in  New  England.  His  ideal,  like  that  of  John  Eliot, 
was  the  native  missionary.  He  recognized  the  many  advan- 
tages arising  from  the  Christianized  Indian,  who  understood 
the  temper,  customs  and  language  of  his  people,  would  dis- 
arm their  prejudices,  and  could  live  anywhere  with  little 
expense.  The  great  "Apostle  to  the  Indians"  had  builded 
his  work  on  this  corner-stone.  The  distinguishing  feature  of 
Doctor  Wheelock's  plan  was  that  he  proposed  to  cultivate  this 
Indian  teacher  in  the  nursery  of  the  Christian  family,  and 
establish  under  his  own  personal  instruction  a  school  for  the 
special  training  of  missionaries.  In  his  opinion,  which  had 
doubtless  been   formed   in  his  experience  with  Occom,  there 

56 


WHEELOCK'S  INDIAN  CHARITY  SCHOOL 


57 


was  also  an  advantage  in  having  these  Indians  trained  with 
whites  who  were  interested  in  the  same  work.  So  he  wished 
to  gather  the  most  promising  youth  of  all  tribes  out  of  their 
heathen  environment,  under  a  master  who  would  instruct  them 
in  civilized  life,  where  they  would  have  mutual  acquaintance, 
and  after  years  of  seasoning  in  Christian  truth  be  fitted  to 
return  as  examples  and  leaders  to  their  own  people.  Girls  as 
well  as  boys  were  to  be  brought  into  this  school  and  instructed 
in  domestic  concerns.  Thus  he  hoped  by  natural  means  to 
introduce  among  distant  tribes  a  native  Christian  family.  In 
early  New  England  history  many  Puritan  homes  had  done  such 
a  service  with  some  success,  as  we  have  seen ;  but  Doctor 
Wheelock's  plan,  based  on  the  same  principle  as  to  the  value 
of  a  civilized  environment,  was  of  larger  extent  and  added 
other  features.  Eliot  had  placed  great  emphasis  on  commu- 
nity life.  Hence  he  had  sought  to  further  civilization  by  self- 
government  in  his  Indian  towns  and  the  organization  of 
churches.  Wheelock  depended  rather  upon  the  high  ideal 
which  he  hoped  to  produce  in  the  individual.  Hence  he 
sought  to  gather  the  fittest  apart  where  they  might  after  years 
attain  it.  There  was  wisdom  in  both  principles,  and  they  are 
essential  to  each  other.  Both  are  to  some  extent  illustrated 
in  the  methods  of  the  present  day.  Indian  civilization  will 
never  flourish  unless  the  educated  individual  is  placed  in  a 
favorable  environment.  That  was  precisely  what  Samson 
Occom  afterwards  sought  to  secure  by  his  scheme  of  gather- 
ing the  Christian  Indians  of  New  England  in  a  town  away 
from  demoralizing  influences.  Doctor  Wheelock  did  not 
sufficiently  consider  the  corresponding  perils  attending  the 
young  native  teacher  when  returned  to  his  heathen  surround- 
ings. Others  have  made  the  same  mistake  since  his  day. 
The  strongest  could  with  difficulty  stand  against  such  tempta- 
tions. Apostasies  have  always  arisen  thus  in  the  history  of 
Indian  missions.     He  entrusted  the  faith  to  mere  youth,  gave 


58  SA3/S0JV  OCCOM 

them  a  measure  of  authority,  sent  them  far  away  from  the  pro- 
tection of  his  school,  and  then  was  easily  discouraged  if  they 
failed  to  stand  the  test.  His  plan  w^as  nevertheless  a  good 
one.  If  it  did  not  accomplish  all  he  anticipated  for  the 
Indians  the  reason  was  rather  in  the  circumstances  which  he 
could  not  control.  Still  we  shall  hope  to  show  the  reader 
that  the  influences  of  his  "  Indian  Charity  School "  were  more 
salutary  and  permanent  than  any  have  thought  or  than  he 
himself  lived  to  see.^ 

Having,  therefore,  after  careful  deliberation,  resolved  upon 
his  experiment.  Doctor  Wheelock  wrote  in  May,  1754,  to  Rev. 
John  Brainerd,  then  employed  among  the  Delaware  Indians 
under  the  New  York  correspondents  of  the  Scotch  Society, 
requesting  him  to  send  to  Lebanon  two  promising  Indian 
boys.  Before  they  arrived,  he  had  awakened  the  interest  of 
his  ministerial  friends  in  the  Windham  Association.  He  had, 
moreover,  unfolded  his  purpose  to  Rev.  George  Whitefield,  as 
we  learn  from  later  references,  and  had  received  his  encour- 
agement. We  doubt  not  that  this  was  a  prominent  topic  of 
conversation  when  they  met  at  Wheelock's  house,  even  as  the 
boys  were  on  the  way.  Thus  he  made  Whitefield  an  adviser 
and  supporter  in  his  work  at  the  very  outset.  On  the  i8th  of 
December,  1754,  there  arrived  at  Lebanon  John  Pumshire, 
aged  fourteen,  and  Jacob  Woolley,  aged  eleven,  both  of  the 
Delaware  tribe.  The  former  continued  there  to  November  14, 
1756,  when  he  was  sent  home  on  account  of  his  failing  health, 
and  died,  January  26,  1757.  The  latter,  being  a  good  scholar, 
advanced  so  rapidly  in  his  studies  that  he  could  "  read  Virgil 
and  Tully  and  the  Greek  Testament  very  handsomely  "  in 
1758.  He  entered  the  college  of  New  Jersey  in  May,  1759, 
but  during  his  last  year,  in  1762,  was  returned  in  disgrace  to 
Lebanon,  where  he  studied  for  some  time  the  Mohawk  tongue. 
Later,  he  went  back  to  college,  but  ran  away,  and  so  he  drops 

'  On  Wheelock's  plan  see  his  Narratives^  1763,  pp.  10-29,  i\  :  1771,  pp.  18-22. 


WHEE LOCK'S   JiYD/AN  CHARITY  SCHOOL  59 

out  of  our  story.  These  two  Delawares  were  Wheelock's  only 
Indian  pupils  until  February  8,  1757.  He  could  not  take 
others  until  he  had  ascertained  what  assistance  he  might 
expect  in  their  support.  At  this  time,  there  were  two  mis- 
sionary societies  engaged  in  such  work,  namely,  the  ''  Society 
for  Propagating  the  Gospel,"  having  commissioners  at  Boston, 
and  the  "  Society  in  Scotland  for  Propagating  Christian 
Knowledge,"  having  boards  of  correspondents  at  New  York 
and  at  Boston.-  J3oth  of  these  societies  assisted  him  during 
the  twelve  years  before  the  "  Trust  Fund  "  was  raised.  He 
also  had  help  from  the  Sir  Peter  Warren  legacy,  through  the 
General  Assembly  of  Massachusetts,  from  the  General  Assem- 
bly of  the  Province  of  New  Harnpshire,  and  from  donations 
and  legacies  of  individuals  at  home  and  abroad.  In  the  later 
years  of  this  period  he  was  forced  to  depend  mainly  on  collec- 
tions made  in  the  churches,  for  which  legislative  authority  was 
obtained  in  Connecticut.  The  "  Society  for  Promoting  Chris- 
tian Knowledge  "  made  him  several  grants  of  books.  These 
were  the  sources  of  the  school's  income  outside  of  the  country 
parish  in  which  it  was  located. 

When  the  two  Indian  pupils  appeared  at  Lebanon,  the  min- 
ister's family  school  assumed  at  once  the  character  of  an 
institution.  Subscriptions  were  made  for  its  maintenance, 
contingent  upon  its  incorporation,  to  the  extent  of  ^^500,  each 
subscriber  agreeing,  meanwhile,  to  pay  the  interest  on  his 
pledge.  Amid  this  aroused  interest.  Doctor  Wheelock  visited 
Mr.  Joshua  More,  a  farmer  of  Mansfield,  Conn.,  who  was 
pleased  to  purchase  for  the  school,  at  a  cost  of  ^^500,  old 
tenor,  a  place  contiguous  to  the  minister's  mansion,  contain- 
ing about  two  acres,  and  having  upon  it  a  "small  dwelling- 
house  and  a  shop  or  schoolhouse."  This  property  he  deeded, 
July  17,  1755,  to  Colonel  Elisha  Williams,  Esq.,  "late  rector 
of  Yale  College  ''— w^hose  service  ended  with  his  death  on  that 

-  See  Chapter  1,  note  15. 


6o  SAMSO.V  OCCOM 

very  day — to  Rev.  Samuel  Mosely  of  Windham,  and  Rev.  Ben- 
jamin Pomeroy  of  Hebron,  who,  with  Doctor  Wheelock,  were 
to  hold  it  in  trust  "for  the  Educating  such  of  the  Indian 
Natives  of  any  or  all  the  Indian  Tribes  in  North  America  or 
other  poor  Persons."  The  institution  was  to  bear  the  donor's 
name,  which  he  spelled  "  More,"  but  the  usual  title  became 
"  Moor^s  Indian  Charity  School."  It  happened,  however,  that 
Mr.  More  died,  October  2,  1756,  without  making  further  pro- 
vision for  the  school,  as  was  expected ;  that  the  deed  was  held 
to  be  defective  ;  that  Wheelock  failed  to  secure  incorporation 
from  the  crown,  and  so  the  property  was  eventually  held  by 
Doctor  Wheelock  himself  by  a  new  conveyance  from  the 
widow,  Dorothy  More,  dated  May  10,  1763.  This  deed  thus 
describes  the  property  : 

One  certain  Messuage  or  Tenement  situate  in  s*^  North  Society  in  s*^  Leb- 
anon, bounded  &  Described  as  follows  (viz)  beginning  at  a  stump  on  the 
west  side  of  Hartford  Road  &  which  is  the  Eastwardly  corner  of  Land 
belonging  to  the  Heirs  of  Philip  Judd  Deceased,  thence  running  by  s"^  Land 
Southwardly  about  22  Rods  to  an  heap  of  stones  in  the  Dam-Brook  adjoin- 
ing to  Jehiel  Rose's  Land,  thence  running  down  the  brook  in  the  Line  of 
s*^  Rose's  Land  12  &  an  half  Rods  to  a  stake  with  stones  about  it  on  the 
East  side  of  s*^  Brook,  thence  running  North  easterly  with  a  Stone  wall  20 
Rods  to  Hartford  Road,  thence  North  westerly  by  Hartford  Road  17  &  ^ 
Rods  to  the  first  mentioned  Bounds,  being  in  quantity  about  Two  Acres  of 
Land. 

While  the  institution  remained  at  Lebanon,  it  was  usually 
styled  "  Wheelock's  Indian  Charity  School,"  but  the  earlier 
title  was  afterwards  restored.  Mr.  Frederick  Chase,  in  his 
"  History  of  Dartmouth  College,"  has  pointed  out  the  fact  that 
this  property  was  bought  from  Moses  Barrett,  "  late  school- 
master in  Lebanon,"  and  conjectures  that  the  new  school 
supplanted  an  earlier  one.  The  first  "master"  of  Doctor 
Wheelock's  school  was  a  young  man  of  that  name,  whose  posi- 
tion may  have  had  some  place  in  the  transfer.  If  this  is  true, 
the  schoolhouse  was  already  prepared  for  use,  and  the  "  man- 


WHEELOCK\S  INDIAN  CHARITY  SCHOOL  6l 

tion  house  "  was  suitable  for  a  dormitory.  Evidently  this  gift 
gave  the  enterprise  a  substantial  character,  which  was  essen- 
tial in  its  plea  for  pecuniary  assistance. 

Here,  then,  was  a  little  group  of  buildings— the  center 
of  a  country  parish — in  which  Doctor  Wheelock  could  con- 
veniently carry  on  his  work.  The  meeting-house  stood  on  the 
green  where  the  two  main  roads  crossed,  one  leading  from 
Hartford  to  Norwich  and  the  other  from  Middletown  to 
Windham  and  Providence.  It  was  a  simple  structure,  forty- 
six  feet  by  sixty-four,  built  in  1748,  and  at  this  time  it  was 
covered  with  a  coat  of  sky-blue  paint.  As  an  encouragement 
to  the  school,  the  parish  voted  in  1755  ^^  set  apart  for  the 
boys  "the  pew  in  the  gallery  over  the  west  stairs,"  and  in 
1761  it  gave  the  "Indian  girls  liberty  to  sit  in  the  hind  seat 
on  the  woman's  side  below."  At  times  these  pews  must  have 
been  filled  to  overflowing.  Some  of  the  pupils,  both  boys  and 
girls,  became  members  of  this  church.  On  several  occasions 
the  congregation  gathered  here  on  the  Sabbath  was  honored 
with  the  presence  of  Indian  chiefs  from  distant  tribes  be- 
decked in  royal  attire.  Thither  missionaries  returned  with 
stories  of  adventurous  experience — Samson  Occom  from  his 
pioneer  visit  to  the  Oneidas,  and  Samuel  Kirkland,  the  first 
white  charity  pupil  of  the  school,  from  his  hazardous  attempt 
to  carry  the  Gospel  to  the  Senecas.  Surely  that  little  sky-blue 
meeting-house  was  the  place  of  many  an  interesting  service  ! 

Southward  from  the  church  was  the  Barrett  dwelling-house, 
transformed  to  serve  as  a  home  for  the  charity  pupils.  Here 
successive  masters  presided  in  turn  after  Moses  Barrett : 
Chandler  Robbins,  Ralph  Pomeroy,  Benjamin  Jrumbull, 
Edmund  Davis,  John  Huntington,  John  Leslie.  John  Lothrop, 
Aaron  Kinne,  Ralph  Wheelock,  Bezaleel  Woodward,  Samuel 
Wales,  and  David  McClure.  In  that  house  the  newly-arrived 
and  half-clad  Indian  boy  spent  his  first  homesick  night  in 
civilization.     "We  reposed  on   Straw   Beds  in    Bunks,"  wrote 


62  SA.VSOJV  OCCOM     . 

David  McClure  in  his  diary,  ''  and  generally  dined  on  a  boiled 
dish  &  an  Indian  pudding."  The  two  acres  round  about 
offered  the  Indian  his  first  lesson  in  the  science  of  agriculture. 
The  schoolhouse  was  near  at  hand.  It  was  such  a  building 
as  the  reader  has  many  times  seen  at  the  crossroads  in  the 
country,  and  its  frame  is  said  to  survive  to  this  day  in  the  dis- 
trict schoolhouse  of  the  place.  Here  or  in  the  hall  of  the  min- 
ister's house  the  pupils  were  gathered  with  their  instructors 
for  morning  and  evening  prayers — for  a  time  by  the  sound  of 
a  bell  "  decently  hung  "  thereon,  which  had  been  presented  by 
Rev.  George  Whitefield.^  Later  their  signal  was  the  blowing 
of  a  shell.  In  this  schoolhouse  they  attended  upon  their 
studies  during  the  day.  Northward  from  the  sky-blue  meeting- 
house, facing  the  green,  was  the  minister's  home,  a  very 
respectable  mansion  for  that  day,  having  ample  room  in  its 
twenty-acre  lot.  A  gigantic  pine-tree,  which  the  minister  may 
have  planted  in  front  of  his  house,  now  marks  the  place,  and 
is  all  that  remains  of  those  early  days  except  the  sacred  dust 
in  the  graveyard.  In  this  home  many  distinguished  divines 
lodged  on  their  journeys  to  and  fro.  In  its  study  meetings 
were  held,  from  time  to  time,  of  the  Windham  Association  and 
later  of  the  board  of  correspondents  which  stood  as  trustees 
toward  the  humble  missionary  school.  One  can  scarcely 
imagine,  without  a  perusal  of  Doctor  Wheelock's  voluminous 
correspondence,  how  many  letters  were  written  there  and  how 
many  important  messages  were  dispatched  thence  to  all 
quarters.     The  country  round  about  was  wholly  devoted    to 

3  Wheelock  wrote  Mr.  Dennys  DeBerdt  of  London,  "  The  Schoolmasters  Com- 
plain of  the.  want  of  a  Bell  that  May  be  well  heard  about  a  mile.  Indian  children 
are  inclined  to  ramble  in  play  time  &  it  is  difficult  to  get  them  together." — 
Wheelock  Papers,  Lett.  Nov.  i6,  1761.  He  wrote  Whitefield  later,  "  I  have  received 
the  Bell  which  you  sent  and  it  is  decently  hung  on  the  House  which  I  have  devoted 
to  the  Service." — Wheelock  Papers,  Lett.  Sept.  i6,  1762.  This  bell,  which  weighed 
eighty  pounds,  was  broken  within  two  years,  and  having  been  sent  to  Elizabeth  town, 
N.  J.,  to  be  recast  was  returned  broken  as  it  went. — Chase's  Hist,  of  Dart.  Coll., 
p.  27. 


WHEELOCK'S  INDIAN  CHARITY  SCIIOOI  63 

farming.  There  was  no  village — only  this  group  of  buildings 
where  two  highways  of  travel  crossed.  Yet  here  was  a  school 
which  had  a  purpose  and  a  name,  honored  in  its  day  through- 
out New  England,  to  the  southward,  and  beyond  the  sea. 

We  are  not  intending  to  repeat  the  story — so  well  told  in 
the  "  History  of  Dartmouth  College  " — of  Doctor  Wheelock's 
hopes,  trials  and  labors  in  connection  with  his  "Indian 
Charity  School."  Our  desire  is  rather  to  make  the  acquaint- 
ance of  the  Indian  pupils  instructed  there,  whose  names  have 
been  all  but  lost  to  notice,  but  whose  lives  are  associated  with 
the  career  of  Samson  Occom.  Who,  then,  were  thosls  pupils, 
and  what  became  of  them  ? 

The  third  Indian  to  attend  this  school,  and  the  first  of  the 
New  England  tribes,  was  Samson  Wauby,  whose  name  is  also 
spelled  Wobby,  Wobi  and  Woyboy.  He  was  a  Pequot  of 
Groton,  a  relative  and  probably  a  cousin  of  Samson  Occom 
through  his  mother.  Of  his  early  life  we  only  know  that  he 
had  been  brought  up  in  an  English  family.  He  had  sufficient 
education  to  enable  him  to  teach  the  Indian  school  at  Mush- 
antuxet  in  Groton  for  a  time  ;  but  was  finally  forced  to  give 
it  up  because  they  needed  one  who  could  "  write  and  cipher  " 
better  than  he.  On  the  3d  of  February,  1757,  Rev.  Jacob 
Johnson  of  Groton  wrote  Doctor  Wheelock  that  Wauby  had 
done  well  in  the  school,  but  he  should  have  further  instruction. 
So  he  became  a  pupil  at  Lebanon  on  the  eighth  of  that  month. 
He  remained  only  nineteen  weeks,  having  some  "  bodily 
infirmities  of  long  standing  "  which  unfitted  him  to  pursue  an 
extended  course  of  study.  The  commissioners  at  Boston 
again  appointed  him  teacher  of  the  Mushantuxet  school 
October  8,  1759,  and  in  the  following  year  he  had  charge  of 
the  Stonington  school.  Soon  afterwards  he  became  a  sol- 
dier, serving  in  1762  in  the  company  of  Captain  John 
Wheatley.  He  died  within  a  few  years,  possibly  while  still  in 
military  service.      His  brief  attendance  at  the  Lebanon  school 


64  SAMSON  OCCOM 

did  not  profit  him  much  ;  but  his  friendly  relations  with  Doc- 
tor Wheelock  continued,  and  his  kinsman,  Roger  Wauby, 
became  associated  with  the  later  life  of  Samson  Occom. 

The  fourth  and  fifth  pupils  were  Delawares,  Joseph  Woolley 
and  Hezekiah  Calvin,  who  arrived  April  9,  1757.  The  former 
is  described  as  "of  middling  capacity,  naturally  modest  and 
something  bashful,"  and  the  latter  as  "  a  smart  little  fellow, 
who  loves  play,  and  will  have  his  hat  in  one  place  and  his 
mittens  in  another."  They  remained  at  the  Indian  school  for 
eight  years,  and  were  among  those  examined,  March  12,  1765, 
by  the  Connecticut  correspondents  of  the  Scotch  Society  and 
approved  as  schoolmasters.  Joseph  Woolley  had  gone  to  the 
Six  Nations  with  Samuel  Kirkland  in  the  autumn  of  1764,  and 
during  the  following  winter  he  taught  an  Indian  school  at 
Onohoquaga  on  the  Susquehanna  river.  He  returned  thither 
in  1765.  His  service  did  not  continue  long,  but  he  was  faith- 
ful unto  the  end  and  died  of  consumption  in  his  mission, 
November  27,  1765,  greatly  mourned  by  the  Indians.  Heze- 
kiah Calvin  taught  among  the  Mohawks  at  Fort  Hunter  and 
was  so  engaged  for  two  years.  He  eventually  disgraced  his 
name,  however,  and  in  1769  Doctor  Wheelock  wrote  of  him, 
"he  is  turned  drunkard  and  apostate."  He  is  said  to  have 
reformed,  but  his  later  life  is  unknown. 

The  next  five  pupils  were  New  England  Indians,  who 
entered  as  follows:  Joseph  Johnson,  December  7,  1758; 
David  Fowler,  April  12,  1759;  Aaron  Occom,  April  28,  1760  ; 
Isaiah  Uncas,  November  26,  1760;  and  Amy  Johnson,  June  2, 
1 76 1.  Fowler  was  Occom's  pupil  at  Montauk  and  the  others 
were  Mohegans.  Isaiah  Uncas  was  that  babe  who  had  been 
baptized  by  Rev.  Eliphalet  Adams  in  1750,  the  son  of  Sachem 
Ben  Uncas,  3d,  once  the  Mohegan  schoolmaster.  He  was 
supported  by  the  "  Society  for  Propagating  the  Gospel " 
for  about  two  years.  Being  the  chief's  son  great  hopes  of  his 
usefulness  were  at  first  entertained;    but  he  proved  to  be  "a 


IVHEELOCKS  INDIAN  CHARITY  SCHOOL  65 

youth  of  feeble  health  and  dull  intellect."  He  left  the  school, 
though  he  was  afterwards  "  taken  back  to  work  on  the  farm." 
As  his  father  died  in  1769,  he  was  heir  to  the  sachemship,  and 
received  some  friendly  attentions  from  the  colony.  When  he 
married  Mary  Sowop  at  North  Stonington,  November  30,  1769, 
he  was  recorded  as  the  "  Mohegan  Chief,"  but  he  did  not  live 
to  be  recognized  generally  as  such,  dying  in  1770,  the  last 
male  of  the  Ben  Uncas  line.  Aaron  Occom  was  another  dis- 
appointment. His  parents  brought  him  to  Lebanon  in  great 
hope,  and  his  father  thus  recorded  his  entrance  in  his  diary ; 
"  Delivered  up  my  little  son  Aaron  to  Rev.  Mr.  Eleazar 
Wheelock  to  be  Brought  up  by  him."  He  remained  there 
until  October,  1761,  entered  a  second  time  December  8,  1765, 
and  a  third  time  November  9,  1766  ;  but  he  had  no  taste  for 
learning,  and  his  life  was  something  of  a  trial  to  his  father,  as 
related  elsewhere. 

Joseph  Johnson  and  Amy,  his  sister,  were  of  a  prominent 
Mohegan  family.  Their  parents  were  Captain  Joseph  and 
Betty  Johnson,  and  the  \\ ell-known  councilor,  Zachary  John- 
son, was  their  uncle.  The  father  had  been  a  captain  of  Indian 
scouts  in  the  French  war,  and  he  is  doubtless  the  soldier  in 
Captain  Nathan  Whiting's  company  who  died  September  4, 
1758,  as  his  death  occurred  about  that  time.^     Thus  being  left 

*The  following  commission  is  among  the  Wheelock  Papers,  Dart.  Coll. — By  Lieu- 
tenant Colonel  John  Young  at  the  Royal-American  Regiment  :  Whereas,  Daniel 
Webb  Esquire,  Major-General  of  his  Majesty's  Forces,  hath  authorized  me  to  send  a 
Detachment  of  our  faithfull  Indians,  And  being  well  assured  of  the  Fidelity  and 
Courage  of  Joseph  Johnson,  I  hereby  authorize  him  to  chuse^out  of  the  Indians  now 
in  our  Camp,  to  the  Number  of  Six  and  Twenty ;  whom  he  is  to  command,  and  who 
are  to  obey  him,  not  only  upon  the  present  Scout,  but  upon  any  other  he  may  be 
employed  [on]  during  the  Course  of  this  Campaign  (if  so  long  a  Time  is  necessary) 
But  that  the  said  Joseph  Johnson  and  his  said  Party,  shall  be  at  full  Liberty  to 
return  to  their  respective  Companies  and  Habitations,  either  after  the  present  expedi- 
tion, or  when  the  Time  of  their  present  Engagement  is  expired. 

Given  under  my  Hand,  at  the  Camp  by  Fort  Edward,  this  Second  Day  of  August 

'757-  ,  ,. 

John   \  oi:ng, 

Mr.  TosEi'H  Johnson.  1-t  Col  Koyal  American  Regt 

6 


66  SAMSOA^  OCCOM 

fatherless  in  his  seventh  year,  Joseph  entered  the  Indian 
Charity  School.  He  continued  there  until,  "  in  the  third 
month  of  his  fifteenth  year,"  he  was  sent  out  as  a  school- 
master to  the  Oneidas,  and  his  life  thereafter  is  a  part  of  our 
story.  While  at  school  he  was  a  bright,  mischievous  boy, 
quick  to  learn  but  not  very  fond  of  study.  His  sister  Amy 
left  the  school  early  in  1766.  She  lived  in  various  families, 
and  was  employed  at  Captain  Bull's  tavern,  the  "  Bunch  of 
Grapes,"  in  Hartford,  when  David  Fowler  contemplated  mak- 
ing her  his  wife.  Later  she  returned  to  Mohegan,  and  is  lost 
to  us. 

David  Fowler  had  two  advantages  when  he  entered  the 
school — he  was  older  than  the  other  pupils  had  been,  being 
then  in  his  twenty-fourth  year,  and  he  had  been  trained  at 
Montauk  by  his  brother-in-law,  Samson  Occom.  He  was  not 
an  exceptional  scholar,  but  he  was  practical  and  faithful  in 
every  form  of  service.  Doctor  Wheelock  wrote  of  him  to  Mr.- 
William  Hyslop,  treasurer  of  the  Boston  correspondents  of  the 
Scotch  Society,  under  date  January  29,  1761  :  "I  have  one 
now  with  me  from  Montauk  whom  Mr.  Occom  taught  to  read 
and  who  is  zealously  pursuing  his  studies  with  a  single  view 
to  a  distant  mission  if  God  pleases;  who,  I  apprehend  is  as 
promising  and  every  way  tempered  and  turned  for  that  busi- 
ness and  as  likely  to  be  useful  as  any  I  have  seen  or  heard  of." 
The  sequel  proved  the  truth  of  this  opinion.  Many  a  time 
David  Fowler  was  called  into  important  service.  He  was 
very  skilful  in  the  use  of  tools  and  had  some  knowledge  of 
farming.  Hence  he  became  very  useful  to  Doctor  Wheelock, 
as  he  acknowledged,  overseeing  the  work  in  the  fields  which 
sometimes  engaged  the  Indians.  This  labor  was  beneficial 
also  to  Fowler.  It  furnished  him  an  experience  in  agricultural 
matters  and  mechanics  which  was  greatly  needed  in  his  after 
life.     It  is  part  of  our  purpose  to  follow  him  to  his  grave. 

On   the    I  St    of   August,    1761,    three    Mohawk    boys    were 


WHEELOCK'S  INDIAN  CHARITY  SCHOOL  67 

received  at  the  school,  Joseph,  Negyes  and  Center.  The  first 
was  well-clad  in  Indian  fashion  and  could  speak  a  little  Eng- 
lish, but  the  other  two  were  nearly  naked.  Center  became  ill 
and  Negyes  was  sent  home  with  him  in  the  autumn.  The  for- 
mer died  soon  afterwards.  The  latter  did  not  return  to  the 
school,  but  married  and  is  heard  of  no  more.  Joseph's  career 
needs  not  to  be  recorded  here,  for  he  was  the  celebrated 
Mohawk  chief  Joseph  Brant,  Thayendanegea,  brother  of  Mary 
Brant,  the  Indian  companion  of  Sir  William  Johnson,  and  his  bio- 
graphy has  been  fully  written.^  He  remained  at  the  school  until 
July  4,  1 763,  during  which  time  he  made  commendable  progress 
in  his  studies  and  is  said  to  have  been  converted  to  Christianity. 
He  was  the  guide  of  Samuel  Kirkland  in  his  journey  west- 
ward in  the  autumn  of  1761,  became  his  instructor  in  the  Mo- 
hawk language,  and  was  ever  his  pow^erful  friend.  His  former 
schoolmates  were  many  times  entertained  at  his  home  and  he 
assisted  them  in  their  missions.  When  he  left  the  school  he 
had  set  out  as  the  interpreter  of  Rev.  Charles  J.  Smith  on  a 
mission  which  an  Indian  war  interrupted,  and  Joseph  remained 
among  his  people.  After  the  lapse  of  nearly  forty  years,  when 
his  home  was  in  Canada,  two  of  his  sons,  Jacob  and  Joseph, 
were  sent  to  Hanover  to  school  in  affectionate  remembrance 
of  his  own  school-days. 

During  the  years  while  the  Indian  school  was  at  Lebanon, 
fifteen  other  Mohawks  became  pupils.  Moses  and  Johannes 
entered  November  27,  1761  ;  Abraham  Primus  or  Major, 
Abraham  Secundus  or  Minor,  and  Peter,  July  18,  1762  ;  W'ill- 
iam  Primus,  William  Secundus,  and  Elias,  November  30,  1764  ; 
Susannah,  Katharine,  and  Mary,  June  12,  1765  ;  John  (Jreen, 
January  11,  1766  ;  Paulus  and  Margaret,  September  28,  1766  ; 
and  Seth,  December  8,  1766.  The  first  five  of  these  were 
examined  at  Lebanon  by  the  Connecticut  correspondents  of 
the  Scotch   Society,   March    12,  1765,  and   were  approved   as 

'^  Life  of  Joseph  Brant,  \Vm.  L.  Stone.  2  vols.,  N.  V.,  1S3S. 


68  SAMSON  OCCOM 

"  well  accomplished  for  schoolmasters,"  but  on  account  of 
their  youth  they  were  appointed  to  serve  as  "  ushers  "  in  the 
mission  schools.  There  was  less  dignity  in  this  office,  but 
they  did  the  same  service  as  their  superiors.  Moses  taught  at 
Lake  Utsage  [Otsego]  at  the  head  of  the  Susquehanna  river; 
and  Abraham  Primus  and  Abraham  Secundus  among  the 
Mohawks,  where  also  Peter  was  established,  but  did  not  long 
continue  on  account  of  illness.  In  1766  "Little  Abraham" 
was  invited  to  teach  a  school  at  "  a  new  settlement  of  Indians 
about  eight  or  ten  miles  below  Fort  Stanwix  "  called  Willheske.^ 
Johannes  went  out  as  an  interpreter  for  Theophilus  Chamber- 
lain, in  which  capacity  he  afterwards  served  Aaron  Kinne  and 
other  white  missionaries.  The  rest  of  these  Mohawks  were 
not  at  the  school  long  enough  to  receive  much  education. 
William  Primus  was  the  natural  son  of  Sir  William  Johnson. 
Of  him  Doctor  Wheelock  wrote,  "  William  is  a  very  good 
Genius  and  capable  of  making  a  very  likely  man,  but  his  Pride 
and  the  Violence  of  his  Temper  have  sometimes  rendered  him 
troublesome  and  obliged  me  to  be  severe  with  him."  He  was 
sent  home  December  10,  1766.  Afterwards  he  was  engaged 
against  the  Americans  in  the  Revolution  and  lost  his  life  in 
the  struggle.  All  the  girls  returned  January  9,  1767,  except- 
ing Susannah,  who  remained  some  months  longer.  Paulus  also 
returned  with  the  girls.  "Little  Elias  "  was  hurt  and  unable 
to  continue.  John  Green  was  probably  the  Mohawk  chief's 
son  taken  home  by  his  father  February  16,  1767.  At  the 
same  time  Doctor  Wheelock  sent  home  Seth,  who  was  "so  fired 
with  having  been  to  the  wars  and  killed  some  Indians  that  the 
house  was  scarcely  good  enough  for  him  to  live  in." 

We  have  a  record  of  eight  or  more  Oneidas  who  attended 
the   school.      Dawet    entered    June    12,    1765;  Mundius    and 

•J  This  settlement  was  Oriskany,  which  is  said  by  Belknap  to  have  been  a  corrup- 
tion of  01  hiske,  a  place  of  nettles.  Gridley,  in  his  History  of  the  town  of  Kirkland, 
spells  the  Indian  word  Ockrisk  or  Orisca.     Samuel  Kirkland  spelled  it  Oriske. 


WHEELOCK'S  INDIAN  CHARITY  SCHOOL  69 

Jacob,  October  5,  1765  ;  and  William,  one  of  David  Fowler's 
pupils,  June  27,  1766.  When  Ralph  Wheelock  returned  from 
his  tour  among  the  missions,  October  25,  1767,  he  brought 
"  Little  Peter,"  son  of  the  deceased  Oneida  chief,  Gawke,  a 
girl  and  two  boys  whose  names  are  unknown,  and  Jacob,  who 
had  been  kept  at  home  since  the  spring  by  his  "bad  aunts." 
In  his  tour  the  following  spring  he  received  five  children, 
three  Oneidas,  a  Tuscarora,  and  one  of  the  "  Uriskee  "  In- 
dians, besides  the  son  of  the  Seneca  chief,  Tekananda,  the 
"  Black  General,"  who  visited  New  England  with  Samuel  Kirk- 
land."^  These  were  to  be  sent  after  him  by  Thomas,  the  pious 
Oneida  deacon,  who  arrived  about  the  first  of  July,  1768,  and 
probably  brought  them.  His  own  daughter,  Hannah,  became 
then  or  earlier  a  pupil.  Mundius,  having  been  very  ill,  was 
returned  by  him,  and  another  died  at  Lebanon.  Thus  the 
number  decreased  so  that  w^hen  Thomas  came,  January  20, 
1769,  to  remove  all  the  Oneida  children,  there  were  only  six 
and  none  of  them  had  been  three  years  in  the  school. 

There  were,  therefore,  not  less  than  twenty-six,  and  possi- 
bly thirty-two,  pupils  at  the  school  from  the  Western  tribes. 
Excepting  the  eight  who  came  before  1763,  they  were  not 
there  long  enough  to  become  civilized.  Many  of  them  learned 
to  read,  but  that  was  all.  We  do  not  know  what  manner  of 
lives  they  afterwards  lived ;  Dr.  Wheelock  did  not.  They 
certainly  should  not  be  counted  as  failures  of  the  school.  Of 
the  schoolmasters,  some,  at  least,  continued  faithful. 

Who  were  the  remainder  of  the  pupils  at  this  Indian  Char- 
ity school  ?  Miriam  Stores  was  a  Delaware,  who  entered  in 
September,  1761.  She  remained  until  1764,  but  her  subse- 
quent career  is  unknown.  p:noch  Closs  and  Samuel  Tallman 
were  also  Delawares  who  came  July  22,  1762,  intending  to 
learn  trades.     The  former  ran  away  in   1765.      Samuel  Tall- 

'  Wheelock' s  Narratives,  1767,  pp.  53-  5^,  11  i  '769.  PP-  46-54  :  Conn.  Col.  Rec, 
XII,  468  ;  McClure's  Mefn.  of  Wlieelock,  p.  270. 


70  S  A  A/so  AT  OCCOM 

man  became  a  carpenter,  lived  among  the  New  England 
Indians,  being  at  one  time  at  Stockbridge,  and  was  eventually 
associated  with  them  in  the  westward  emigration.  All  the 
others  were  New  England  Indians,  numbering  twenty-five, 
who  are  known  by  name.  It  is  said  that  seventy  Indians 
attended  the  school  while  it  was  at  Lebanon.  This  division 
accounts  for  the  entire  number — thirty-one  from  New  Eng- 
land, thirty-two  from  the  Western  tribes,  and  seven  Delawares. 
By  this  detailed  study,  it  is  shown  that  the  school  accom- 
plished greater  results  among  the  Indians  in  its  immediate 
neighborhood.  When  its  removal  was  contemplated,  Samuel 
Kirkland  and  Samson  Occom  both  advocated  its  location 
among  the  Six  Nations  for  this  very  reason.  This,  too,  was 
one  consideration  which  moved  Kirkland  afterwards  to  found 
Hamilton  On«ida  Academy.  At  Hanover  the  school  had  to 
depend  upon  remote  tribes,  which  was  one  cause  of  its  decline. 
The  Western  pupils  entered  the  Lebanon  school  as  savages, 
and  returned  to  their  native  environment.  The  New  England 
Indians  went  from  their  reservation  schools,  and  even  though 
some  of  them  did  not  remain  long,  they  had  the  encourage- 
ment of  a  civilized  element  on  returning  home.  They  were 
lost  to  Doctor  Wheelock,  but  the  influence  of  the  school 
remained  as  a  potent  factor  in  their  after  lives.  Samson 
Occom  perpetuated  it  and  gathered  up  the  fruits. 

Of  the  twenty-five  New  England  Indians  who  entered  the 
school  after  those  already  mentioned,  most  are  well  known  to 
us.  Daniel  Mossuck  entered  July  i8,  1762.  He  was  of  the 
Tunxis  tribe  at  Farmington,  and  his  father,  Solomon  Mos- 
suck, was  one  of  the  prominent  Christian  Indians  in  that  town, 
of  whom  more  is  related  elsewhere.  He  only  remained  a  few 
months  at  the  school,  but  he  afterwards  led  a  worthy  life, 
became  a  soldier  in  the  Revolution,  and  engaged  himself  in 
Occom's  emigration  movement.  Jacob  Fowler,  the  younger 
brother  of  David,  who  was  born  in    1750,  entered  the  school 


IVHEE LOCK'S  INDIAN  CHARITY  SCHOOL  71 

November  20,  1762.  He  was,  of  course,  one  of  Occom's 
pupils  at  Montauk,  and  continued  at  the  school  uAtil  he  went 
forth  on  a  mission,  as  the  reader  will  presently  learn.  He 
was  more  of  a  scholar  than  his  brother  and  made  excellent 
progress  in  his  studies.  Some  of  these  pupils  were  girls. 
Sarah  Wyoge,  who  entered  April  20,  1762,  and  Patience  John- 
son, who  entered  August  24,  1762,  were  Mohegans,  and  both 
were  dismissed  in  1764.  Hannah  Nonesuch,  whb  came  March 
II,  1768,  was  also  of  that  tribe,  and  her  parents,  Joshua  and 
Hannah,  were  members  of  Rev.  David  Jewett's  church.  She 
is  said  to  have  Christian  descendants  now  living.  Hannah 
Poquiantup,  who  entered  in  September,  1763,  was  of  Niantic, 
and  a  relative  of  Occom.  The  Narragansett  tribe  furnished 
the  remainder,  excepting  Nathan  Clap,  a  Cape  Cod  Indian, 
who  was  possibly  at  the  school  a  short  time  and  turned  out 
badly. ^  Five  of  these  were  children  of  one  family,  having  a 
pious  mother,  Sarah  Simons,  a  widow.  Emanuel  entered  April 
10,  1763;  Sarah,  December  13,  1765;  James,  in  1767,  and 
Abraham  and  Daniel  in  1768  or  1769.  This  mother  wrote 
Doctor  Wheelock  thus  when  she  sent  up  James  :  "  I  have  sent 
my  Lettel  Son  up  to  you,  take  him  to  your  self  and  keep  him  in 
subjection.  Keep  him  as  Long  as  you  pies  til  you  think  that  he 
shall  be  capabel  of  bisness."^  All  these  children  were  con- 
verted at  the  school.  Sarah  is  known  to  have  joined  Doctor 
Wheelock's  church  in  November,  1767.  Emanuel  became  a 
soldier  in  the  Revolution  and  a  settler  later  at  Brothertown. 
Abraham  and  Daniel  were  the  only  two  pupils  who  removed 
with  the  school  to  Hanover,  and  we  shall  meet  theni  both 
again.  Mary  Secutor,  who  entered  December  17,  1763,  and 
John,  her  brother,  who  entered  in  1767,  were  children  of  John 
Secutor,  a  prominent  man  in  the  tribe,  and  both  were  enlisted 
in   Occom's  emigration  plan.     James   Niles,  who  was  a  pupil 

^Chase's  Hist,  of  Dart.  Coll.,  p.  S3  :    Wheelock's  Narrative,  1769,  p.  4;. 
^  Wheelock  Papers,  Lett.  Oct.  12,  1767. 


72  SAAfSON  OCCOM 

in  1768,  was  doubtless  a  nephew  of  Rev.  Samuel  Niles,  the 
Indian  minister  of  the  Narragansetts,  and  Samuel  Niles,  a 
pupil  in  1767,  was  his  son.  James  became  a  soldier  in  the 
Revolution  and  removed  westward  with  the  Christian  Indians. 
John  Matthews  was  a  pupil  in  1768  and  1769.  He  became  a 
member  of  Wheelock's  church,  went  among  the  Oneidas  with 
Levi  Frisbie  in  1769,  learned  the  language  under  Samuel 
Kirkland,  and  in  1772  went  on  a  mission  thither  with  his 
cousin,  Abraham  Simons. ^*^  Hannah  Garret  entered  the  school 
December  17,  1763.  She  married  David  Fowler  and  her 
descendants  have  kept  the  faith  for  five  generations.  Of 
Charles  Daniel,  who  entered  December  14,  1765,  we  know 
nothing  except  that  he  was  the  son  of  John  Daniel,  a  promi- 
nent Indian  at  Charlestown,  R.  I.  Abigail  and  Martha  came 
April  3,  1767,  but  as  we  have  not  their  family  names,  we  are 
unable  to  follow  them. 

Two  of  these  Narragansett  young  men  became  conspicu- 
ous in  their  tribal  affairs,  and  have  an  interesting  story.  John 
and  Tobias  Shattock  were  brothers,  and  their  father  was  John 
Shattock  or  Shaddock,  who  opposed  the  sachem  I^inegret  in 
selling  their  lands.  They  entered  the  school  December  16, 
1766.  "Toby"  was  at  that  time  married,  and  his  wife  and 
child  also  came  to  Lebanon  soon  afterwards.  They  had  been 
pupils  of  Edward  Deake  in  the  Narragansett  school  where 
they  had  already  acquired  a  fair  education.  Doubtless  their 
purpose  was  to  fit  themselves  for  some  mission,  as  both  are 
known  to  have  been  earnest  and  consistent  Christian  Indians. 
It  was,  however,  interrupted  by  their  participation  in  the  land 
controversy.^^  One  or  both  of  them  made  several  trips  to  Sir 
William  Johnson  in  the  interest  of  the  tribe,  bearing  Doctor 
Wheelock's    hearty    recommendation.       Finally    the     Indian 

^°  Wheelock^s  Narrative,  1773,  pp.  7,  8. 

"  See  A  Statement  of  the  Case  0/ the  Narragansett  Tribe  of  Indians,  by  James  N. 
Arnold,  Newport,  1896. 


WHEELOCK'S  INDIAN  CHARITY  SCHOOL  73 

council,  despairing  of  relief  from  the  Colonial  government, 
determined  to  appeal  to  the  king,  and  to  send  John  and 
Tobias  Shattock  to  England  in  their  behalf.  They  therefore 
wrote  Doctor  Wheelock  a  letter  expressing  their  thanks  for 
his  efforts,  and  their  regrets  at  being  compelled  to  take  the 
young  men  from  the  school. ^^  This  was  on  the  8th  of  Decem- 
ber, 1767,  and  they  had  been  pupils  about  a  year.  In  this 
letter  they  say,  "  we  have  none  so  capable  of  doing  business 
as  they  are."  Having  been  offered  a  free  passage  in  the  ship 
of  Captain  William  Chase,  they  sailed  from  New  York  early  in 
January,  1768,  and  arrived  safely  at  Greenock,  Scotland. 
They  bore  a  letter  from  Rev.  Doctor  Clark  to  Mr.  Alexander 
Moubray,  a  merchant  of  Edinburgh,  commending  them  to  his 
care  as  "some  fruits'*  of  Doctor  Wheelock's  school.  On  the 
15th  of  April  they  arrived  at  Edinburgh,  and  arrangements 
were  made  to  forward  them  on  a  ship  sailing  the  i8th  to 
London.  Mr.  Moubray  lodged  them  next  door  to  his  home, 
and  they  ate  at  his  table.  A  storm  delayed  the  ship,  and  on 
the  2 1  St,  as  they  were  at  Leith  about  to  sail,  John  showed 
symptoms  of  the  smallpox.  They  were  taken  back  to  Mr. 
Moubray's  home,  where  both  were  soon  at  the  height  of  the 
disease.  The  best  physicians  in  the  city  attended  them. 
Nurses  were  provided,  and  the  merchant's  wife  "laid  aside  all 
concern  in  her  family  in  order  to  attend  them."  The  news 
awakened  the  compassion  of  many  godly  people,  who  were 
anxious  to  do  something  for  the  Indian  strangers.  Rev. 
Charles  Beatty  of  Philadelphia  chanced  to  be  in  the  city,  and 
with  Doctor  Erskine  ministered  to  them.  On  the  6th  of  May, 
at  about  4  o'clock  in  the  morning,  Tobias  died.  He  had  been 
four  days  blind,  but  knew  the  voices  of  his  friends  to  the  last. 
When  he  was  dying  his  'brother,  who  was  less  zealous  in  the 
Christian  life,  was  told  of  his  condition.  The  sad  announce- 
ment had   such   an   effect   upon   John   that   Tobias    was  com- 

'2  McClure's  Mem.  of  Wheelock.  p.  277. 


74  SAMSON  OCCOM 

forted.  On  hearing  it  he  exclaimed,  "  Good  news  1  good  news  !" 
and  fell  asleep.  Those  Good  Samaritans  of  Edinburgh 
dressed  the  dead  Indian  in  "  a  Suitt  of  fine  Mournings,"  and 
at  6  o'clock  the  next  evening  they  bore  him  to  his  burial  in 
Grayfriars  churchyard,  Mr.  Moubray  carrying  his  head,  Mr. 
Beatty  his  right  shoulder,  Doctor  Erskine  his  left,  and  a  num- 
ber of  ministers  and  gentlemen  following  round  about  the  pall. 
"  The  best  people  in  town,"  it  is  said,  "  were  invited  and 
attended  the  funeral."  Thus  says  Mr.  Moubrav,  in  his  letter 
to  Doctor  Wheelock  detailing  this  event,  "  in  our  Churchyard 
was  Interred  the  first  Christian  Indian  that  ever  we  heard  of, 
very  near  the  place  where  is  Interred  the  bodys  of  those  who 
suffered  for  the  word  of  Christ's  patience  in  Scotland  against 
Oppressing  powers."!^  One  Christian  Indian  of  New  England 
at  least  received  a  proper  burial  far  away  from  the  graves  of 
his  fathers !  His  mound  has,  however,  long  since  been  leveled 
by  time,  and  we  bring  out  his  forgotten  story  from  the  wasting 
yellow  sheet.  This  was  indeed  the  first  Christian  Indian  who 
had  died  in  Edinburgh,  which  is  doubtless  the  meaning  ;  but 
they  knew  of  another,  Samson  Occom,  who  had  aroused  the 
interest  of  Christians  throughout  England,  and  who  had 
preached  in  their  churches  the  year  before. 

The  sequel  of  this  journey  is  soon  told.  Tobias,  when  it 
was  certain  that  he  could  not  live,  made  over  his  right  to  rep- 
resent the  tribe  to  his  brother,  and  the  assignment  received 
the  seal  of  the  mayor  of  Edinburgh.  John  went  on  to  London 
with  Mr.  Beatty,  where  his  mission  was  a  failure,  as  so  many 
others  were  in  those  days.  He  returned  to  America  in  the 
September  following,  and  became  one  of  the  head  men  of  the 
Narragansetts. 

Samuel  Ashbow,  the  last  in  our  catalogue,  was  connected 
with  the  school  only  about  six  months,  but  he  deserves  more 
extended  notice,  as  he  became  a  prominent  Indian  preacher.  He 

"  Wheelock  Papers,  Lett.,  May  14,  1768. 


IVHEELOCKS  INDIAN  CHARITY  SCHOOL  75 

was  born  at  Mohegan  in  the  year  17  18,  and  his  epitaph  records 
the  fact  that  he  was  "  one  of  the  royal  family."  What  his  title 
to  this  honor  was  we  do  not  know.  The  Mohegan  councilor, 
Zachary  Johnson,  testified  before  William  Williams  that  the 
grandfather  of  Samuel  came  from  Springfield  and  fought  in 
the  war  with  the  Pequots ;  but  it  was  acknowledged  that  "  his 
right  in  the  tribe  was  as  good  as  that  of  Ben  Uncas."  His 
father  was  probably  the  Indian  Ashobapow,  named  in  a  list  of 
1692,  abbreviated  afterwards  to  Ashpo  or  Ashbow.  Samuel 
was  one  of  the  pupils  of  Jonathan  Barber  in  the  Mohegan 
school,  and  was  converted  about  the  time  Samson  Occom  was. 
He  seems  to  have  known  Doctor  Wheelock  before  the  Indian 
school  was  established,  for  he  first  united  with  his  church.  In 
1753  he  was  teaching  the  Indian  school  at  Mushantuxet,  under 
the  patronage  of  the  commissioners  at  Boston,  in  whose  records 
he  is  erroneously  called  John  Ashpo.  This  school  he  taught 
until  1757,  when  he  went  into  the  government  service  as  inter- 
preter. At  that  time  he  fell  into  intemperance.  Doctor 
Wheelock  says  :  "^  He  behaved  very  well  several  years  till  he 
got  into  a  bad  company  of  sailors  at  New  London  and  got 
drunk.  He  soon  after  came  and  with  tears  informed  me  of  his 
fall  and  seemed  much  affected,  and  desired  to  make  a  public 
confession,  and  has  never  tasted  since. "^"^  In  1759  he  returned 
to  Mushantuxet,  where  he  taught  the  school  and  exercised  his 
gifts  as  an  Indian  preacher.  Soon  after  his  conversion  he  had 
come  under  the  influence  of  certain  lay  exhorters  of  the  Sep- 
aratist school  by  whom  he  had  been  examined  and  ordained  in 
their  way.  "  He  was  not,"  says  Doctor  Wheelock,  "  one  of  the 
most  bitter,  sensorious,  furious  and  uncharitable  sort,  but  he 
has  imbibed  such  independent  and  Brownistic  principles  as  I 
find  many  good  sort  of  people  zealous  to  defend. ''^^  Rev.  Jacob 
Johnson  says  he  taught  the  school  very  well,  but  like  Samson 

^*Wheelock  Papers,  Lett,  to  Rev.  Gideon  llawley,  June,  1761. 


76  SAMSON  OCCOM 

Wauby,  who  succeeded  him  in  1757,  he  could  not  write  and 
cipher  well  enough,  from  which  testimony  we  may  judge  of  his 
education. ^^  He  made  his  home  among  these  Groton  Indians 
for  many  years  until  he  returned  to  Mohegan.  In  a  census  of 
1762  he  is  called  their  minister,  and  was  living  in  a  house,  hav- 
ing a  wife  and  six  children.  We  conjecture  that  he  had  mar- 
ried Hannah  Mamnack  of  the  Wangunk  tribe,  for  in  1765  they 
seem  to  be  among  those  who  had  rights  in  the  Mattabesett 
lands.  Most  of  his  children  were  sons,  of  whom  four,  Sam- 
uel, Simeon,  James  and  John,  died  as  soldiers  in  the  Revolu- 
tion. It  was  in  the  year  1760  that  he  first  entered  the  mis- 
sionary service,  going  to  Onohoquaga.  On  his  return  he 
lodged  at  Doctor  Wheelock's  house.  He  brought  news  of  "  a 
great  concern  "  among  the  Indians  at  Jeningo,  to  whom  he 
was  ready  to  go  as  a  missionary.  At  that  time  Doctor  Whee- 
lock  was  projecting  such  a  venture ;  but  he  hesitated  in  send- 
ing out  one  of  Separatist  notions.  Ashbow,  therefore,  first 
made  his  peace  with  the  orthodox  fold  by  returning  to  his 
*'  Duty  and  Privilege  "  in  the  North  church  of  New  London, 
to  which  he  had  taken  a  letter  from  Lebanon,  agreeing  to  "  de- 
sist from  preaching  until  approved  by  those  who  may  be  ap- 
pointed to  examine  his  qualifications."^^  Meanwhile  he  had 
been  to  Jeningo,  and  the  Indians  had  invited  him  to  become 
their  minister.  On  the  29th  of  July,  1762,  a  small  council  met 
at  Mohegan,  consisting  of  Rev.  Messrs.  Wheelock,  Jewett, 
Whitaker  and  Powers.  They  examined  him  "  concerning  his 
principles  and  knowledge  in  Christianity,  and  enquired  into 
his  moral  character;  and  were  so  far  satisfied  as  to  advise  that 
he  be  devoted  to  the  study  of  divinity  under  the  care  and  tui- 
tion of  some  divine  for  some  convenient  space  of  time,  and 
then  submit  to  another  examination."  In  writing  Rev.  George 
Whitefield  of  this  council,  Wheelock  said,  "  they  advised  to  his 

10  Ibid.,  Lett,  to  Wlieelock,  Feb.  3,  1757. 

''  Wheelock  Papers,  Lett.,  Jewett  to  Wheelock,  Nov.  i,  1761. 


WHEELOCK'S  INDIAN  CHARITY  SCHOOL  77 

being  fitted  as  fast  as  may  be  for  a  mission,  and  accordingly  I 
expect  him  to  this  school. "^^  He  entered  on  the  25th  of  Sep- 
tember following,  and  studied  under  Doctor  Wheelock  during 
the  autumn  and  winter,  retaining  his  residence  at  Mushan- 
tuxet,  and  ministering  to  the  Indians.  At  the  annual  "Con- 
vention of  Ministers,"  held  at  the  house  of  Rev.  Elnathan 
Whitman  in  Hartford,  May  12,  1763,  a  committee  was  ap- 
pointed to  examine  him  with  reference  to  a  mission  at  Jeningo. 
He  was  approved  and  received  this  testimonial  that  he  was  a 
"  Man  of  good  Understanding  in  the  most  important  Doctrines 
and  Principles  of  Christianity,  considering  the  great  Disad- 
vantages he  has  been  brought  up  under,  and  he  appears  to 
have  a  truly  religious  Turn  of  Mind  and  to  be  inspired  with  a 
well  tempered  zeal  to  introduce  and  spread  the  Knowledge  of 
the  true  God  and  Saviour  among  his  Savage  lirethren  in  the 
Wilds  of  America."  The  committee  accordingly  approved  of 
his  "  Preaching  the  Gospel  among  the  Indians  where  the  Prov- 
idence of  God  shall  open  the  Door  for  it."^^  Doctor  Whee- 
lock had  meanwhile  fitted  him  out  for  his  mission,  and  he  imme- 
diately set  forth.  He  was,  however,  only  away  six  weeks, 
being  obliged  to  retreat  on  account  of  a  rupture  among  the 
Indians  in  that  region.  In  the  spring  of  1764,  preparations 
were  made  to  send  him  to  the  Onondagas.  He  went  to  Je- 
ningo in  the  summer  of  1766,  and  remained  there  during  the 
winter.  It  is  said  that  he  again  fell  into  intemperance,  but  he 
reformed,  and  for  years,  upon  the  discontinuance  of  Whee- 
lock's  missions,  he  labored  among  the  New  England  Indians, 
especially  at  Niantic.  His  later  affiliations  were  with  the  Bap- 
tists, and  he  never  got  rid  of  his  Separatist  opinions. ^"^  In  his 
latter  days  he  visited  Occom's  settlement  at  Brothertown,  but 
he  did  not  remove  thither.     So  far  as  we  know  his  life  in  his 

18  Wheelock  Papers,  Lett.  Sept.  12,  \'j(-,2. 

J"  Wheelock  Papers,  May  12,  1763. 

20  Diary  of  David  McClure,  pp.  i?9,  190. 


78  SAMSON  OCCOM 

age  was  above  reproach.  Many  of  the  whites  knew  and  re- 
spected him.  Sometimes  he  preached  in  their  rural  communi- 
ties. He  died  at  Mohegan,  and  in  the  neglected  burial-place, 
west  of  the  Norwich  and  New  London  highway,  about  half  a 
mile  from  the  Mohegan  church,  his  grave  is  marked  by  a 
stone  bearing  this  epitaph  :  "  In  memo/y  of  Rev'^  Samuel 
Ashbow  one  of  the  Royal  Family  who  died  Nov'  7"'  1795  in 
the  77"'  year  of  his  age."  Mrs.  Hannah  Ashbow,  his  wife, 
died  July  10,  1801.  This  Mohegan  minister  was  no  doubt  as 
useful  as  his  education  and  circumstances  would  permit.  He 
certainly  had  some  talent  as  an  exhorter  and  exercised  consid- 
erable influence  among  the  Indians  whose  religion  was  of  the 
erratic  and  emotional  type. 

This  introduction  we  give  to  the  pupils  of  Wheelock's 
Indian  Charity  School.  It  has  always  been  said  that  this 
institution  was  a  failure.  The  immediate  results  were  not,  in 
some  cases,  encouraging.  Doctor  Wheelock,  who  had  de- 
pended on  charity  for  their  support,  felt  this  most  keenly. 
He  surrendered,  in  consequence,  his  early  purpose,  and  turned 
to  the  whites.  Yet  he  himself,  in  his  first  Narrative,  had  said  : 
"If  the  one  half  of  the  Indian  Boys  thus  educated  shall  prove 
good  and  useful  men,  there  will  be  no  reason  to  regret  our  toil 
and  expense  for  the  whole."  Of  those  who  remained  a  suffi- 
cient time  at  the  school  to  receive  its  impressions,  the  larger 
proportion  led  useful  lives,  and  some  of  his  disappointments 
afterwards  brought  him  joy.  The  New  England  Indians,  at 
least,  justified  his  efforts  in  their  behalf.  The  history  of  the 
Brothertown  tribe  is  the  sequel  to  his  Indian  Charity  School. 
It  must  be  remembered,  moreover,  that  the  foremost  white 
missionaries  of  the  time  were  among  his  pupils.  The  heroic 
life  of  Samuel  Kirkland  and  some  other  ministers  received  an 
impulse  in  that  school  at  the  country  crossroads. ^^     He  never 

21  We  have  not  seen  any  list  of  the  white  pupils  at  Wheelock's  school  while  it  was  at 
I-ebanon.     In   1762,  he  had  three,  in   1765,  five,  and   others    later.     Those  who  are 


WHEELOCK'S  IiXDIAN  CIIARirV  SCHOOL  79 

professed  to  establish  a  school  for  Indians  alone.  Coeduca- 
tion with  the  whites  was  a  feature  of  his  plan.  This  he 
endeavored  to  perpetuate,  when,  in  1770,  the  school  removed 
to  Hanover,  N.  H.,  and  was  incorporated  with  Dartmouth 
College. 

Some  account  should  be  given,  in  conclusion,  of  the  manner 
in  which  this  Indian  school  was  conducted.  Two  descriptions 
have  survived.  One  is  Doctor  Wheelock's  own,  as  given  in 
his  first  Narrative.     Of  the  scholars,  he  says  : 

They  are  obliged  to  be  clean,  and  decently  dressed,  and  be  ready  to 
attend  Prayers  before  Sun-rise  in  the  Fall  and  Winter,  and  at  6  o'clock  in 
the  Summer.  A  Portion  of  Scripture  is  read  by  several  of  the  Seniors  of 
them  :  And  those  who  are  able  answer  a  Question  in  the  Assembly's  Cate- 
chism, and  have  some  Questions  asked  them  upon  it,  and  an  Answer 
expounded  to  them.  After  Prayers,  and  a  short  Time  for  their  Diversion, 
the  School  begins  with  Prayer  about  9,  and  ends  at  12,  and  again  at  2  and 
ends  at  5  o'clock  with  Prayer.  Evening  Prayer  is  attended  before  the  Day- 
light is  gone  &c.  They  attend  the  publick  Worship,  and  have  a  Pew 
devoted  to  their  Use  in  the  Kouse  of  God.  On  Lord's-Day  Morning, 
between  and  after  the  Meetings,  the  Master,  or  some  one  whom  they  will 
submit  to,  is  with  them,  inspects  their  Behaviour,  hears  them  read,  cate- 
chises them,  discourses  to  them  &c.  And  once  or  twice  a  AVeek  they  hear 
a  Discourse  calculated  to  their  Capacities  upon  the  most  important  and 
interesting  Subjects.  And  in  general  they  are  orderly  and  governable  : 
They  appear  to  be  as  perfectly  easy  and  contented  with  their  Situation  and 
Employment  as  any  at  a  Father's  House.  I  scarcely  hear  a  Word  of  their 
going  Home,  so  much  as  for  a  visit,  for  years  together,  except  it  be  when 
they  first  come.-- 

The  Other  account  is  found  in  a  letter  from  Mr.  John  Smith, 
a   Boston    merchant,  who   was   interested    in   the   school,   and 

known  to  have  been  pupils  there  are  :  Samuel  Kirkland,  Samuel  Gray,  David  Avery. 
Phineas  Dodge,  Eleazar  Sweetland,  David  McClure.  Levi  Frisbie,  Augustine  Hib- 
bard,  Allyn  Mather,  John  McClarren  Breed,  Josiah  Dunham,  John  Hall,  and  Josiah 
Pomerov.  We  conjecture  that  Sylvanus  Ripley  and  Ebenezer  Gurley  may  also  have 
studied  there.  Gray,  Frisbie,  and  Ripley  graduated  at  Dartmouth  College  in  1771, 
Gurley  and  Hibbard  in  1772,  and  Sweetland  in  1774.  [Chapman's  Alumni  of  Dart. 
Co//.]  McChu-e,  Avery,  and  Hall  graduated  at  ^■ale  College  in  1769,  Dreed  in  176S. 
Pomeroy  in  1770,  and  Dunham  died  while  in  college. 

-^IV/iee/ock's  Narrative,  1763,  p.  36  ;  Cf.,  Diary  of  David  McClure,  p.  S. 


8o  SAA/SOJV  OCCOM 

visited  it  in  1764.  He  found,  before  reaching  the  place,  that 
Mr.  Wheelock  had  the  reverence  of  a  man  of  God,  and  that  his 
school  was  held  in  high  esteem.  His  description  is  as  fol- 
lows : 

I  reached  his  house  a  little  before  the  evening  sacrifice,  and  was  movingly 
touched  on  giving  out  the  psalm  to  hear  an  Indian  youth  set  the  time,  and 
the  others  following  him  and  singing  the  tenor  and  bass  with  remarkable 
gravity  and  seriousness;  and  though  Mr.  Wheelock,  the  schoolmaster  and 
a  minister  from  our  Province  (called,  as  I  was,  by  curiosity)  joined  in  Praise, 
yet  they,  unmoved,  seemed  to  have  nothing  to  do  but  to  sing  to  the  Glory  of 
God.  I  omit  Mr.  Wheelock's  prayer,  and  pass  to  the  Indians;  in  the 
morning  when  on  ringing  the  schoolhouse  bell  they  assemble  at  Mr. 
Wheelock's  house  about  five  o'clock  with  their  master,  who  named  the 
chapter  in  course  for  the  day,  and  called  upon  the  near  Indian,  who  read 
three  or  four  verses,  till  the  master  said  "  Proximus,"  and  then  the  next 
Indian  read  some  verses,  and  so  on  till  all  the  Indians  had  read  the  whole 
chapter.  After  this,  Mr.  Wheelock  prays,  and  then  each  Indian  parses  a 
verse  or  two  of  the  chapter  they  had  read.  After  this  they  entered  succes- 
sively on  Prosodia,  and  then  on  Disputations  on  some  questions  pro- 
pounded by  themselves  in  some  of  the  arts  and  sciences.  And  it  is  really 
charming  to  see  Indian  youths  of  different  tribes  and  languages  in  pure 
English  reading  the  word  of  God  and  speaking  with  exactness  and  accu- 
racy on  points  (either  chosen  by  themselves  or  given  out  to  them)  in  the 
several  arts  and  sciences;  and  especially  to  see  this  done  with  at  least  a 
seeming  mixture  of  obedience  to  God,  a  filial  love  and  reverence  to  Mr. 
Wheelock,  and  yet  with  great  ambition  to  excel  each  other.  And  indeed  in 
this  morning's  exercises  I  saw  a  youth  degraded  one  lower  in  the  class  who 
before  the  exercises  were  finished  not  only  recovered  his  own  place,  but 
was  advanced  two  higher.  I  learnt  that  my  surprise  was  common  to  min- 
isters and  other  persons  of  literature  who  before  me  had  been  to  visit  this 
school,  or  rather  College,  for  I  doubt  whether  in  colleges  in  general  a 
better  education  is  to  be  expected;  and  in  mentioning  this  to  a  gentlemen 
in  this  town  who  had  visited  this  Seminary,  he  acquainted  me  that  he 
intended  at  his  own  charge  to  send  his  son  to  obtain  his  education  in  mix- 
ture with  these  Indians.  There  were  4  or  5  of  these  Indians,  from  21  to  24 
years  of  age,  who  did  not  mix  with  the  youth  in  these  exercises  ;  these  I 
learnt  were  perfected  in  their  literature,  and  stand  ready  to  be  sent  among 
the  Indians  to  keep  schools  and  occasionally  to  preach  as  doors  open.  On 
my  return,  Mr.  Wheelock  accompanied  me  a  few  miles;  and  on  passing  by 
one  house,  he  said,  here  lives  one  of  my  Indian  girls,  who  was,  I  hope  con- 


WHEELOCK'S  INDIAN  CHARITY  SCIIOOI  8l 

verted  last  week ;  and  calling  to  the  farmer,  he,  unperceived,  brought  the 
young  girl  into  our  sight;  and  the  pleasure  was  exquisite  to  seethe  savage- 
ness  of  an  Indian  moulded  into  the  sweetness  of  a  follower  of  the  Lamb.-'^ 

Such  was  the  school  which  these  Indian  pupils  attended — 
unpretentious  in  its  buildings,  without  charter  or  other  trus- 
tees than  its  friends,  dependent  wholly  upon  the  charity  of 
a  few,  and  the  meager  assistance  of  burdened  societies — a 
school  created,  maintained  and  governed  by  a  country  min- 
ister of  Connecticut,  who  had  an  idea  and  a  will  to  carry  it  out.. 

23  Wheelock  Papers,  Lett.  May  i8,  1764. 


CHAPTER    V 

OCCOM'S    missions    to    the    ONEIDA    INDIANS 
1761-1764 

The  most  attractive  field  for  the  missionary  enterprise  of 
New  England  about  the  middle  of  the  eighteenth  century,  was 
among  the  Six  Nations  of  New  York.  The  influence  of  this 
alliance  of  savages  had  long  been  recognized,  and  their  con- 
version to  Christianity  had  been  years  before  the  fond  dream 
of  the  Jesuits.  Among  them,  too,  the  Episcopal  church  had 
labored  through  "The  Society  for  the  Propagation  of  the 
Gospel  in  Foreign  Parts."  ^  But  interest  in  these  tribes  had 
been  revived  in  consequence  of  the  French  and  Indian  War. 
On  the  2d  of  June,  1747,  the  commissioners  of  the  "Society 
for  Propagating  the  Gospel,"  meeting  at  Boston,  appointed  a 
committee  to  look  up  a  suitable  person  to  go  among  the  Six 
Nations,  the  same  to  be  supported  by  the  benefaction  of  Rev. 
Dr.  Williams.  Rev.  Elihu  Spencer  was  finally  secured,  and  in 
the  autumn  of  1748  he  was  established  on  the  Susquehanna 
river.     He  returned  the  next  year  and  was  released.^     In  1753 

1  Humphreys's ///.r/<7;'/V(7/  Account  ;  Hawkins'  Historical  Notices  of  the  Missio7is 
of  the  Church  of  England ;  Anderson's  Colonial  Churchy  III,  286  ff ;  and  Prof. 
A.  G.  Hopkins  in  Trans.  Oneida  Hist.  Soc,  tS86, 

2  Elihu  Spencer,  the  son  of  Isaac  and  Mary  (Selden)  Spencer,  was  born  Feb.  12, 
1721,  at  East  Haddam,  Conn.,  being  a  second  cousin  of  David  and  Jolin  Brainerd. 
He  graduated  at  Yale  College  in  1746,  studied  theology,  was  with  John  Brainerd 
among  the  Indians  in  the  winter  of  1747,  and  with  Jonathan  Edwards  the  following 
summer,  and  was  ordained  with  a  mission  in  view,  Sept.  12,  1748,  at  Boston.  After 
leaving  the  mission  he  was  in  the  Presbyterian  ministry  at  Elizabeth,  N.  J.,  Jamaica. 
L.  I.,  and  Trenton,  N.  J.  He  died  Dec.  27,  1784. — Dexter's  Yale  Biographies,  II,  89: 
Sprague's  Annals.  Ill,  165  ;  Hopkins's  Hist.  Mem.  of  the  Housatitnnuk  Indians ; 
and  MS.  Rec.  Soc.  for  Prop.  Cos. 

82 


OCCOIirs  MISSIONS    TO    THE    ONEIDA    INDIANS       83 

the  same  society  sent  out  Rev.  Gideon  Hawley,  who  labored 
at  Onohoquaga  until  1756.  He  then  became  the  Indian  mis- 
sionary at  Marshpee,  though  he  visited  his  old  field  in  1761 
and  1765.  Mr.  Hawley  was  the  most  successful  missionary 
who  had  hitherto  labored  in  that  region. ^  He  hid  the  good 
seed  at  least  in  a  few  hearts  where  it  germinated.  One  of  his 
converts  was  Gwedelhes  Agwerondongwas,  or  "Good  Peter," 
who  grew  in  strength  like  an  oak,  and  in  whom  the  charter  of 
the  faith  was  safely  kept  for  many  a  day."*  To  him  and  his 
fellow  laborer,  Isaac  Dakayenensere,  a  reference  is  made  in 
Kirkpatrick's  letter  which  we  shall  presently  quote. 

3 Gideon  Hawley,  the  son  of  Gideon  and  Hannah  Hawley,  was  born  in  Stiatfield, 
Conn.,  Nov.  5,  1727.  He  graduated  at  Yale  College  in  1749,  and  was  licensed  to 
preach  by  the  Fairfield  East  Association,  May  i,  1750.  In  February,  1752,  he  became 
instructor  in  the  Mohawk  School  at  Stockbridge,  Mass.  At  the  suggestion  of  Jona- 
than Edwards,  he  went  in  May,  1753,  on  a  mission  to  Susquehanna,  having  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Benjamin  Ashly  as  interpreters.  Having  engaged  in  this  service  for  a  year,  he 
was  ordained  as  the  missionary  there  under  the  Society  for  Propagating  the  Gospel, 
July  31,  1754,  at  the  Old  South  Church  in  Boston.  He  continued  in  this  field  until 
1756,  served  as  chaplain  of  Col.  Richard  Gridley's  regiment  in  the  expedition  against 
Crown  Point,  and  in  1757  was  engaged  as  missionary  among  the  Indians  at  Marsh- 
pee,  where  he  was  installed  April  8,  175S,  and  labored  until  his  death,  Oct.  3,  1807. — 
Dexter's  Yale  Biographies^  II,  205  ;  Sprague's  Annals^  1,  497  ;  Doc.  Hist,  of  N.  K, 
8°,  III,  1031 ;  and  MS.  Rec.  Sac.  for  Prop.  Cos. 

*  Gwedelhes  Agwerondongwas  [Agwelentongwas]  as  Wheelock  spelled  the  name, 
or  "  Good  Peter  "  [Domine  Peter,  Peter  the  Priest,  Petrus  the  Minister]  was  a  chief 
of  the  Oneida  tribe  and  belonged  to  the  Eel  Clan.  He  was  born  early  in  the  century 
on  the  Susquehanna  River,  and  was  one  of  the  prominent  friends  of  Hawley's  mis- 
sions there.  After  his  conversion  he  acquired  some  education  and  could  read  and 
write  fairly  well.  His  greatest  gift  was  in  Indian  oratory,  in  which  he  had  no  equal 
among  the  Six  Nations.  After  Hawley  left  the  field  he  carried  on  the  work  alone, 
preaching  and  making  missionary  tours  among  his  people  ;  and  throughout  his  life 
he  was  foremost  in  all  such  efforts.  The  universal  testimony  is  that  he  was  judi- 
cious, sober,  faithful  and  consistent  as  a  Christian,  and  did  much  to  enlighten  his 
people.  Rev.  Eli  Forbes  testified  that  he  was  as  eminent  a  Christian  as  any  among 
the  English.  Rev.  Samuel  Kirkland,  in  a  letter  of  Dec.  26,  1792,  records  his  death 
at  Buffalo  Creek  while  attending  the  Grand  Council  there,  and  adds  this  tribute: 
"  The  Oneidas  have  sustained  an  almost  irreparable  loss  in  tlie  death  of  Good  f'eter. 
His  equal  is  nowhere  to  be  found  in  all  the  five  nations."  He  had  been  one  of  Kirk- 
land's  deacons.  A  portrait  of  him  is  said  to  have  been  once  exhibited  in  Mr.  Stew- 
ard's museum  in  Hartford,  and  John  Trunibull's  miniature  painted  in  1792  is  in  the 
Yale  Art  School. 


84  SAMSON  OCCOM 

The  attention  of  the  New  York  correspondents  of  the 
Scotch  Society  having  been  turned  toward  Samson  Occom  as 
a  suitable  person  to  undertake  a  mission  to  some  distant  tribe, 
they  were  only  awaiting  a  favorable  opportunity  to  send  him 
forth.  This  Indian  minister,  though  continuing  at  Montauk 
after  his  ordination,  was  uneasy  there,  having  hopes  of  larger 
usefulness  than  that  small  tribe  offered  him.  A  call  to  service 
soon  came  by  a  letter  which  he  received  in  the  last  days  of 
1760.  It  is  given  in  full  from  the  manuscript  in  the  Con- 
necticut Historical  Society  : — 

New  York,  Novf  25*11  1760 

Rev*!  Sir. 

Having  been  called,  in  this  last  Summers  Campaign,  to  act  in 
the  Capacity  of  Chaplain  to  the  N.  Jersey  Regim^  commanded  by  Col. 
Peter  Schuyler,  I  think  it  my  Duty  to  inform  you — That,  in  our  March  from 
Fort  Stanwix  to  the  Oneida  Lake,  we  happend  to  meet  with  a  Number  of 
the  Oneida  Indians,  who  seemed  to  pay  a  great  Respect  to  that  sacred 
Character,  which,  from  my  Apparrel,  they  easily  imagined  I  sustained — 
and  upon  entring  into  Conversation  with  them,  they  agreably  surpriz'd  me 
by  discovering  an  earnest  Desire  of  having  a  Minister  setled  among  them — 
They  informed  me  that  they  had  collected  together  (I  think)  300  Dollars 
for  erecting  an  House  of  Worship,  which  would  be  applied  to  that  Purpose 
as  soon  as  they  cou'd  get  a  Minister — They  likewise  informed  me  that  they 
had  their  Children  baptized  by  Ministers  in  their  occasional  Visits— and 
desired  me  to  marry  a  Couple  which  I  complied  with — They  appear  to  have 
considerable  Notions  of  a  Supreme  Being,  and  of  Revealed  Religion— and 
there  are  two  Indians  of  their  Nation  who  attempt  something  like  Preach- 
ing on  the  Sabbath  Days.  I  was  further  informed  by  them  that  not  only 
their  own  Nation  of  the  Oneidas,  But  also  their  Cousins,  the  Tuscaroras 
were  willing  to  join  in  this  Affair — and  they  pressed  it  upon  me  to  endeavor 
to  send  them  a  Minister,  and  promised,  if  I  did,  they  would  be  Kind 
to  him. 

I  came  under  Obligations  to  use  my  Influence  to  have  their  Desires  in 
this  Respect  fulfilled.  In  consequence  therefore  of  my  Promise  I  now 
write  to  you — As  I  have  been  informed,  Sir,  you  have  lately  enter'd  into 
the  Doors  of  the  Sanctuary,  and  stand  waiting  for  Employment  in  any  Part 
of  God's  House  where  he  shall  providentially  call  you,  therefore  I  hope  you 
will  be  easily  induced  to  engage  in  this  important  Mission — I  hope,  Sir, 
your  own  zeal  and  forwardness  in  the  Cause  of  God  and  for  the  Salvation 


OCCOArs  MISS/OiVS    TO    THE    ONEIDA    INDIANS       85 

of  the  Heathen  supersedes  the  Necessity  of  using  any  Argum.'"  I  sho'd 
however  add  a  few  were  it  not  that  I  write  in  the  greatest  Hurry,  and  prin- 
cipally as  a  Historian  of  these  undoubted  facts — for  other  Argum.'s  and 
Encourag.ts  in  this  Affair  I  refer  you  to  M'  Bostwick's  Letter,  and  in  the 
greatest  Hurry  subscribe  myself.  Rev.^  and  dear  Sir. 

Your    Bro""    and    Fellow     Labourer    in    the 
Work    of    the    Gospel    Ministry 

W.  KiRKPATRICK. 

[To  Rev.  Samson  Occom] 

The  hurried  visit  which  Rev.  William  Kirkpatrick  had  paid 
to  the  Oneidas  led  him  to  write  in  too  sanguine  a  strain  of 
their  condition.  It  appears  that,  on  his  return  to  New  York, 
he  had  mentioned  the  affair  to  Rev.  David  Bostwick,  president 
of  the  correspondents  of  the  Scotch  Society,  who  had  inspired 
the  above  letter  and  who  also  soon  wrote  Occom,  giving  some 
encouragement  of  the  necessary  support  if  he  would  go  on 
this  mission.  Rev.  Samuel  Buell  was  greatly  interested.  It 
was  such  a  field  as  he  had  hoped  his  Indian  friend  would  find. 
The  time  had  come  for  him  to  print  his  sermon,  preached  at 
Occom's  ordination.  This  he  did  and  he  added  his  own  letter 
to  Mr.  Bostwick.  He  referred  to  Mr.  Kirkpatrick's  letter  when 
he  wrote :  "  We  receive  the  information  as  well  authenticated 
that  the  Oneida  Indians  (to  whom  Mr.  Occom  is  going)  make 
the  first  motion  themselves  and  earnestly  request  that  a  gospel 
minister  may  be  sent  among  them."  He  also  wrote  to  Doctor 
Wheelock,  January  13,  1761,  saying  "Several  letters  have 
come  to  hand  (I  mean  to  Mr.  Occum  and  myself)  from  gentle- 
men westward  ...  a  glorious  door  seems  opening  for 
their  [Six  Nations]  being  evangelized  and  for  promoting  your 
important  school.""  This  letter  arrived  at  Lebanon  on  the 
29th  instant  with  one  from  Occom  on  the  same  subject.  Doc- 
tor Wheelock  was  thus  led  to  add  a  postscript  to  the  letter 
which,  on  that  day,  he  had  written  to  Mr,  William  Hyslop  of 
Boston   so   warmly  commending   David    Fowler.       In    this  he 

5  McCliire's  Mem.  of  Wheelock,  p.  226. 


86  SAMSON   OCCOM 

said,  "I  am  informed  y*  in  consequence  of  the  Invitation  of  a 
number  of  ministers  at  the  westward  (I  suppose  the  Corres- 
pondent Commissioners  in  N,  Jersie)  Mr.  Occom  has  deter- 
mined to  go  early  next  spring  on  a  Mission  to  the  Oneida 
Indians.  He  has  wrote  me  desiring  that  David  Fowler,  his 
Brother  in  Law,  the  Indian  of  whom  I  wrote  in  ye  foregoing 
Letter  may  go  with  him  a  few  months."^  Moved,  therefore, 
by  the  desire  to  send  Fowler  with  Occom  to  secure  some 
Mohawk  youth  for  his  school,  Doctor  Wheelock  visited  Boston 
and  met  the  correspondents  of  the  Scotch  Society.  Upon  his 
representation  they  voted,  May  7th,  "  That  the  Reverend  Mr. 
Wheelock  of  Lebanon  be  desired  to  fit  out  David  Fowler,  an 
Indian  Youth,  to  accompany  Mr.  Sampson  Occom,  going  on  a 
Mission  to  the  Oneidas,  that  said  David  be  supported  on  said 
Mission  for  a  Term  not  exceeding  4  Months,  and  that  he 
endeavour  on  his  Return  to  bring  with  him  a  Number  of  Indian 
Boys,  not  exceeding  three,  to  be  put  under  Mr.  Wheelock's 
Care  and  Instruction."^  Thus  encouraged,  David  Fowler  was 
made  ready.  Occom  was  intending  to  start  about  the  middle 
of  May,  but  he  was  delayed  at  Montauk  by  illness.  Fowler 
was  sent  to  Mohegan  to  see  if  they  had  news  of  him.^  Every- 
thing was  ready  and  delay  at  that  season  might  be  disastrous. 
On  the  30th  of  May  Occom  left  his  home  at  Montauk,  went  to 
Easthampton  to  bid  his  friend  Mr.  Buell  farewell,  tarried  a 
day  at  Mohegan  with  his  mother  and  on  the  8th  of  June 
arrived  at  Lebanon. 

On  the  loth  of  June,  at  three  o'clock  in  the  afternoon,  an 
interesting  group  was  gathered  before  Doctor  Wheelock's 
house  opposite  the  Lebanon  sky-blue  church.  It  was  one  of 
those  historic  scenes  which  might  inspire  the  artist — the  dig- 
nified Connecticut  minister,  the  comforting   presence   of  his 

''  Wheelock  Papers,  Lett.  Jan.  29,  1761. 

'' Wheelock'' s  Narrative,  1763,  p.  39. 

^  Conii.  Hist.  Soc,  Lett.  Wheelock  to  Occom,  May  27,  1761. 


OCCOM'S  MISSIONS    TO    THh    ONEIDA    INDIANS       87 

matronly  companion,  a  few  Indian  boys  and  the  young  man 
from  a  neighboring  minister's  household,  known  by  name  as 
Samuel  Kirkland,  but  then  unknown  to  fame.  Two  horses  are 
led  out  and  two  Indians  leap  to  their  backs,  the  one  a  Mohe- 
gan  in  his  prime,  the  other  an  athletic  young  Montauk— and 
thus  they  set  forth  to  carry  the  gospel  and  civilization  to  the 
Oneida  Indians.  These  were  the  first  missionaries  sent  out 
under  the  auspices  of  Connecticut  people.  The  day  had  come 
of  which  Wheelock  had  often  dreamed — that  country  parson 
whom  an  Oneida  chief  once  called  "  The  Great  Minister  that 
takes  the  care  of  Indians." 

Samson  Occom  shall  give  his  own  account  of  his  journey: 

Wednesday  June  y^'  10  about  3  P.  M.  Ihother  David  and  I  took  Leave 
of  Mr  Wheelock  and  his  Family  and  Sot  out  on  our  Journey  for  Onoyda 
by  way  of  New  York — Reach'd  Heartford  about  9  at  Night,  Lodg'd  [at] 
Cap*^  Daniel  Bulls,  and  were  very  kindly  Treated— the  Man  seems  to  be 
Truely  Religious,  keep  very  good  order  in  his  House. 

Thirdsday  June  y^  11  about  9  in  the  Morning  we  Sot  out  on  our  Journey, 
and  got  about  6  miles  Westward  of  N.  Haven  and  Lodg'd  at  one  Wood- 
roffs — 

Fryday  June  y*'  12.  Sot  [out]  Early  in  the  Morning,  got  to  Stanford  at 
Night  Lodgd  at  a  Certain  Tavern — 

Saturday  June  y*^  13.  Went  on  our  way,  got  within  5  miles  of  the  City 
of  New  York,  and  turn'd  in  to  one  M""  Goldsmiths. 

Sabbath  June  y«  14  taried  at  Goldsmiths,  we  did  not  go  to  the  City  to 
Publick  Worship  for  fear  of  the  Small  Pox,  being  Informed  very  Brief 
[rife  .'']  there — But  I  never  Saw  a  Sabbath  Spent  so  by  any  Christian  Peo- 
ple in  my  Life  as  some  Spent  it  here.  Some  were  Riding  in  Chairs,  some 
upon  Horse  Back  orthers  traveling  foot.  Passing  and  Repassing  all  Day 
long,  and  all  Sorts  of  Evil  Noisps  Caried  on  by  our  [door]  Drunkards  were 
Realing  and  Stagaring  in  the  Streets,  others  tumbling  off  their  Horses, 
there  were  others  at  work  in  their  farms,  and  [if]  ever  any  People  under 
the  Heavens  Spoke  Flells  Language,  these  People  did,  for  their  Mouths 
were  full  of  Cursings,  Prophaning  Gods  Holy  Name — I  greatly  Mistake  if 
these  are  not  the  sons  and  Daughters  of  Belial. 

O  thou  God  of  Heaven,  thou  y^  Hast  all  the  Hearts  of  the  Children  of 
men  in  thine  Hands,  Leave  me  not  to  Practice  the  Works  of  these  People, 
but  help  me,  O  Lord  to  take  warning  and  to  take  heed  to  my  self  according 


88  SAMSON  OCCOM 

to  thy  Holy  Word,  and  have  mercy  upon  the  Wicked,  Convince  and  Con- 
vert them  to  thy  Self,  for  thine  own  glory. 

I  have  thought  there  was  no  Heathen  but  the  wild  Indians,  but  I  think 
now  there  is  some  English  Heathen,  where  they  Enjo}'  the  Gospel  of  Jesus 
Christ  too,  Yea,  I  believe  they  are  worse  than  y<^  Savage  Heathens  of  the 
wilderness, — I  have  thought  that  I  had  rather  go  with  the  meanest  and 
most  Dispis'd  creature  on  Earth  to  Heaven,  than  to  Go  with  the  greatest 
Monarch  Down  to  Hell,  after  a- Short  Enjoyment  of  Sinful  Pleasures  with 
them  in  this  World — I  am  glad  there  is  one  defect  in  the  Indian  Language, 
and  I  believe  in  all  their  Languages  they  Can't  Curse  or  sware  or  take 
god's  Name  in  Vain  in  their  own  Tongue. 

Monday  June  y^  15,  to  the  City,  and  were  Conducted  to  M""  Well's  at 
fresh  waters  and  were  Very  Kindly  receiv'd  by  him  and  by  all  his  Family. 
I  believe  the  Fear  of  God  [is]  in  their  House  and  this  was  our  Home  as  long 
as  we  Stay'd  in  the  place.  The  People  of  the  City  were  Extreamely  kind  to 
us  there  was  not  a  Day  Scarsly,  but  that  I  was  invited  to  Dine  with  one 
Gentleman  or  other.  The  Ministers  of  all  Sects  and  Denominations  were 
uncommonly  kind  to  me — my  Friends  Increased  Daily  while  at  New  York. 

Thirdsday  June  y^  25  we  left  New  York  and  went  on  our  Journey, 
Reach'd  Peekskills  at  Night — 

Fryday  June  26  Sot  out  very  Early  in  the  Morning  and  we  made  it  Night 
at  Rynbeck. 

Saturday  June  y^  27  Sot  out  very  Early,  and  made  it  Night  between 
Claverack  and  Kinderhook — 

Sabbath  June  y^  28.  Went  to  Kinderhook  about  five  Miles,  and  there 
Stopt  all  Day, — but  did  not  go  to  Publick  Worship,  Because  the  People 
were  Barbarians  to  us  and  we  to  them,  in  our  Toungs,  they  were  Dutch. 

Monday  June  y''  29  left  the  Place  very  Early,  and  got  to  Albany  about  12 
o'c  and  were  Conducted  to  one  M'  Hants  Vn  Santvoord  &  taried  there  and 
the  People  in  Albany  were  very  kind  to  us,  I  went  to  wait  upon  his  Excel- 
lency, Gen.i'  Amherst  the  After  Noon  after  we  got  to  Albany,  but  he  was 
busy  and  I  Coud  not  see  him,  one  of  his  waiters  Came  out  to  me,  and  told 
me  I  should  have  the  Generals  Assistance  and  I  should  make  my  Appear- 
ance about  10  in  the  Morning. 

Tuesday  June  y*^  30.  I  made  my  Ap])earance  before  his  Excellency  at  the 
Time  Apointed  according  to  orders,  his  Excellence  Met  me  at  the  Door 
and  told  me  he  had  wrote  a  Pass  for  me,  and  he  unfolded  it  and  Read  it  to 
me,  and  when  he  had  Read  it,  he  Delivered  it  to  me,  and  gave  me  good 
Advice  and  Counsel  and  wish'd  me  success  in  my  undertaking  &  I  return'^ 
unfeigned  Thanks  to  him  and  then  took  my  leave  of  him  &c — The  Pass 
which  he  gave  me  was  very  good  one  indeed,  which  I  will  coppy  Down 
here 


OCCOM'S^M/SS/OXS    TO    THE    ONEIDA    INDIANS       89 

By  his  Excellency  Jeffery  Amherst  &  Esq*  Major  General,  and  Com- 
mander in  Chief  of  all  His  Majestys  Forces  in  North  America  &c  &c  &c — 
To  All  Whom  it  may  Concern 

Whereas  the  Correspondents  of  the  Society  in  Scotland  for  Propagating 
Christian  Knowledge,  have  Acquainted  me  that  the  Bearer  hereof,  the 
Revd  M""  Occom,  is  sent  by  them,  as  a  Missionary  to  Reside  amongst  the 
Indians  about  the  Onoyda  Lake,  These  are  to  order  and  direct  the  offi- 
,  cers  Commanding  at  the  Several  Posts,  to  give  him  any  Aid  or  Assistance 
he  may  Stand  in  need  of  to  forward  him  on  his  Journey,  and  on  his  Arival 
at  y**  Onoyda  Lake,  the  officer  Commanding  there  will  grant  him  all  the 
Protection  and  Countenance  he  may  want,  in  the  Execution  of  his  Duty  &c 
Given  under  my  Hand  &  Seal  at  Head  Quarters  in  Albany,  this  29^''  Day 
of  June  1 761 

By  his  Excellencys 
•Command  Jei'F-  Amherst 

Arthur  Muir 
Wednesday  July  y'^^  i  left  Albany  about  10  in  the  Morning,  got  to  Scenec- 
tady  about  3  in  the  after  Noon.     Stayed  there  one  Night. 

Thirdsday  July  2  Went  from  Senectady  In  Company  with  Colo'  Whit- 
ing and  Di"  Rodman,  they  Seemed  to  be  Quite  Friendly  gentlemen  to  us, 
we  got  about  Seven  miles  westward  of  Sir  William  Johnsons. 

Fryday  July  y*^  3  went  to  See  Sir  William  at  his  Farm  Seven  Miles  out 
off  the  Road,  in  the  Wilderness,  got  there  about  9  in  the  Morning,  and 
were  very  Kindly  Entertained  by  his  Honor.  I  Showed  him  my  Recom- 
mendatory Letters,  and  a  Pass  from  Gen'  Amherst,  he  Promised  me  his 
Assistance  as  Need  Should  Require,  he  was  exceeding  free  with  me  in  con- 
versation— But  we  stayd  there  but  about  two  Hours,  for  he  was  geting  in 
Readines  to  go  on  our  way  on  the  Next  Day  towards  Detroit  with  five  Bat- 
tows  Laden  with  Presents  for  the  Indians,  he  said  he  wou'd  overtake  us  on 
the  Morrow  before  Night— We  took  Leave  of  his  Honor  and  went  our 
way,  after  we  had  got  to  the  Main  Road,  we  Call'd  in  at  Certain  House,  and 
there  vfe  were  Detained  one  Night  by  a  Storm. 

Saturday  July  y''  4.     Went  on  our  Journey  and  Reach'd  the  German  flats 
at  Night,  and  we  Turn'd  in  at  one  M""  Frank's,  a  Tavern  Keeper- 
Sabbath  July  ye  5  we  stay''  at  M^  Franks,  but  did  not  go  to  Publick  Wor- 
ship with  the  People,  because  they  Spoke  unknown  Toungue  to  us.  But  it 
did  Seem  like  Sabbath  by  the  appearance  of  the  People- 
July  the  6— Sir  William  came  to  us  at  M'  Franks 

Tuesday  July  y'^^  7.  Sir  William  and  the  Chiefs  of  the  Onoyda  Indians 
Met  at  this  Place,  to  make  up  a  Breach,  which  one  of  the  Indians  made 
lately,  by  Killing  a  Dutchman,  they  talked  about  an   Hour  at  this  Time, 


90  SAJ/SOJV  OCCOM 

and  then  Brok  up.  Towards  Night  they  Met  together  again,  and  talk'd 
together  about  3  quarters  of  an  Hour,  then  finaly  Brock  up  without  being 
fully  Satisfied  on  both  sides  for,  the  Indians  Insisted  upon  an  old  agree- 
ment that  was  Settled  between  them  and  the  English  formerly,  that  if  any 
Such  Acident  Should  ever  happen  between  them  in  Peaceable  Times,  they 
Shou'd  make  it  up  in  an  Amicable  manner  without  sheding  of  Blood. 
But  Sir  William  told  them  it  was  the  Comand  of  General  Amherst,  that 
the  murderer  Sho'^  be  delivered  up  to  Justice — but  the  Indians  said, 
that  [the]  murderer  was  gone  off  no  body  knows  where  &c.^ 

What  further  transpired  during  Samson  Occom's  first  mis- 
sion to  the  Oneida  Indians  must  be  gathered  from  other 
sources,  as  the  diary  suddenly  breaks  off.  It  appears  that  the 
correspondents  at  New  York,  though  they  had  urged  Occom 
to  undertake  this  service,  had  not  made  ready  to  support  him. 
His  own  account  is  given  in  a  letter  to  Doctor  Wheelock  : 

Nf.w  York,  Tune  ye  24,  1761. 
Revd  Sir. 

We  reached  New  York  y«  15  Inst  and  to  my  Surprize,  the  Gentlemen 
had  concluded  not  [to]  send  me  at  all,  and  all  the  Reason  that  they  can 
give  is,  they  are  affraid  the  Indians  will  kill  me.  I  told  them,  they  cou'd 
not  kill  me  but  once,  and  told  them  I  intended  to  Proceed  on  my  Journey 
and  if  I  Perish  for  want  of  Support  I  perish.  But  I  intended  to  use  your 
Money  Sir  that  David  has  with  him,  and  when  they  Perceived  my  Resolu- 
tion, they  Emediately  Consulted  the  Matter  and  Concluded  that  T  should 
go,  and  a  Collection  should  be  made  for  me,  and  Recommendations  shou'd 
be  sent  by  me  to  Gen^  Amherst  and  to  Sir  William. 

And  the  whole  Matter  is  Acomplished  to  my  Surprize  beyond  all  my 
expectations.  The  Last  Sabbath  after  the  afternoon  Service  was  over  at 
M""  Bostwick's  Congregation,  they  ma'de  a  Collection  for  me  and  my 
Family's  support,  and  it  mounted  to  ;^6o,  s.  15,  d.  7,  and  Monday  Evening 
the  Baptists  made  a  Collection  for  me  at  their  Meeting  Plouse  and  it 
mounted  to  £1'}^.  And  my  Recommendations  are  done  by  the  Most  Noted 
Gentlemen  of  this  Place,  not  only  to  the  generals,  but  to  other  gen"  of 
their  Acquaintance,  from  this  City  to  the  furthermost  English  Settlements. 
The  People  are  uncommonly  kind  to  us  in  this  great  City.  But  we  live  in 
y*^  suburbs  with  one  Obediah  Wells  an  old  Disciple.  I  am  Invited  to  the 
City  every  Day  to  Dine  with  Some  gentleman  or  other.  Some  times  Two 
or  three  Invitations  at  once.     Especially  the   Ministers  of  all    Sects  and 

"  Occom'' s  MS.  Diary,  Dartmouth  College. 


OCCOM'S   MISSIONS    TO    THE    ONE  ID  A    INDIANS 


91 


Denominations  are  Extreamly  kind  to  me — Yesterday  3  o'c  P.  M.  I  was 
Intr[oduced]  to  wait  upon  his  [Excellency]  Colden,  President  and  Com- 
mander in  Chief  in  the  Province  of  N.  York,  and  [he]  wished  me  good 
Success  and  Gave  me  good  advice  and  Counsil — I  believe  tomorrow  Morn- 
ing we  Shall  [set]  out  from  here  on  our  Way  to  Onoyda. 

Please  to  remember  us  in  your  Fatherly  Pray'  Continually.  Except  Duty 
and  Sutable  Regards  to  the  Family  from 

Your  Most  Obedient  Indian  Son 

Samson  Occom.^^ 

To  Revd  Mr.  \Vhp:elock 

The  recommendations  to  which  reference  is  made  were 
signed  by  Hon.  William  Smith,  Rev.  David  Bostwick,  Mr. 
P.  V.  B.  Livingston,  IMr.  David  Vanhorne,  and  William  Liv- 
ingston, Esq.  These,  with  the  passport  of  General  Amherst 
and  letters  which  he  bore  from  Doctor  Wheelock  and  others  to 
Sir  William  Johnson,  were  a  guarantee  of  favor  and  protection. 

In  response  to  Doctor  Wheelock's  request.  Sir  William  John- 
son sent  on  from  German  Flats,  where  he  then  was  on  his  way 
to  Detroit,  the  three  Indian  boys,  who  arrived  on  the  ist  of 
August.^^  One  of  these  was  Joseph  Brant.  Fowler  was  going 
on  farther,  partly  to  accompany  Occom,  but  also  in  the  hope 
of  conducting  other  boys  whom  Sir  William  Johnson  intended 
to  secure  farther  west.  He  had  even  been  authorized  to  go 
as  far  as  the  Senecas,  but  he  tarried  with  Occom  among  the 
Oneidas.  From  German  Flats  they  went  on  with  Sir  William 
Johnson  to  Oneida  Old  Castle,  where  they  arrived  on  the  i6th 
of  July.  We  have  in  Johnson's  diary  the  following  entry  as  to 
that  day : 

Thursday  i6th.— Sent  off  the  baggage  boat,  and  went  up  in  a  whale  boat 
toward  the  Oneida  Old  Castle,  iii  order  to  meet  with  the  chiefs  of  that 
place,  who  were  sent  for  the  night  before;  but  they  not  being  at  home,  I 
delivered  what  I  had  to  say  to  one  of  their  chiefs  in  the  presence  of  several 
of  their  women,  and  tlie  Reverend  Mr.  Oaum,  whom  I  very  strongly  rec- 
ommended to  them,  as  I  did,  also,  a  friendly  behavior  toward  all  their 

10  Wheelock  Papers. 

1'  McClure's  Mem.  of  Wheelock,  p.  228. 


92  SAMSON  OCCOM 

brethren,  that  I  might  hear  no  more  complaints  against  them  on  my  return, 
nor  from  them  against  the  officers,  soldiers  or  others  as  usual. i- 

This  was  a  very  auspicious  introduction  which  Occom  and 
Fowler  thus  had  to  the  Oneidas.  The  best  account  we  have 
of  their  labors  is  in  a  letter  which  Doctor  Wheelock  wrote  to 
Rev.  George  Whitefield.-^^     It  is  as  follows  : 

My  black  Son  M""  Occom  has  lately  returned  from  his  Mission  to  the 
Onoyadas,  and  the  last  week  I  had  the  Pleasure  to  see  him  with  one  of  that 
nation  (who  designs  to  winter  with  him  and  learn  the  English  Language  & 
teach  M^"  Occom  Mohawke)  and  I  was  agreeably  entertained  with  M' 
Occom's  Journal,  I  can  only  suggest  to  you  a  few  things  most  material  in 
it.  And  to  begin  where  I  left  off  in  my  Last.  When  he  first  came  among 
them  they  seemed  shy  of  him  thro'  a  Jealosie  that  something  was  designed 
by  the  English  against  them,  but  when  Gen^  Johnson  had  read  his  Letters 
Recommendatory,  they  appeared  well  satisfied  &  much  pleased,  and  as  ^ 
Testimony  of  it  the  Kings  of  the  Onoydas  and  Tuscaroras,  &  many  others 
of  their  Chiefs  came  &  shook  hands  with  him  and  bid  him  wellcome  among 
them.  Their  Chiefs  then  held  a  Council  to  fix  upon  the  best  methods  to 
accomodate  him  with  that  which  was  necessary  for  his  comfortable  subsist- 
ance  among  them,  and  you  would  not  wonder  that  their  Chiefs  held  a  coun- 
cel  upon  this  Head  if  you  knew  how  extreamly  poor  they  are,  having  scarce 
anything  that  may  be  called  Bread  or  anything  else  except  what  they  get  by 
hunting  to  subsist  upon.  They  proposed  to  M"^  Occom  to  Chuse  where  to 
Live,  and  whether  to  live  in  a  house  already  Built.  He  chose  the  Place 
and  let  them  know  y^  he  chose  to  live  with  David  (my  Indian  Schollar)  and 
to  live  by  themselves.  They  immediately  built  him  a  House  the  structure 
of  which,  could  the  Form  &  Workmanship  thereof  be  truly  represented, 
might  gratify  not  a  little  the  curiosity  of  a  Brittain,  though  there  was  noth- 
ing in  it  yt  resembled  the  Temple  of  old  save  that  there  was  not  the  noise 
of  axes  or  Hammers  in  the  Building  of  it.  The  Materials  were  the  simple 
Product  of  nature,  the  Remains  of  the  Oakes  &  chestnuts  fell  many  years 
ago  by  the  violence  of  wiad.  Many  of  them  attended  his  Ministry  & 
appeared  attentive.  Numbers  from  distant  Nations  came  to  hear  him,  and 
some  seemed  really  desirous  to  understand  and  know  the  truths  which 
most  nearly  concerned  them.  And  when  he  was  about  to  leave  them  their 
chiefs  held  another  council.  The  consequence  of^  which  was  that  Old 
Connoquies  (who  had  been  King  among  the  Onoyadas  but  had  now  resigned 
by  Reason  of  Age)  the  King  of  the  Tuscaroras  and  other  Chiefs,  presented 

^2  Stone's  Life  and  Times  of  Sir  William  Johnson,  II,  432. 
»3  Wheelock  Papers,  Leit.  Nov.  25,  1761. 


OCCOAPS  MISSIONS    TO    THE   ONEIDA   INDIANS 


93 


him  a  Belt  of  Wampum  to  these  Instructions  which  he  received  from  old 
Connoquies,  viz. 

I — We  are  glad  from  the  inside  of  our  Hearts  that  you  are  come  hear  to 
teach  the  right  way  of  God.  We  are  also  thankful  to  those  who  sent  you, 
and  above  all  to  God 

2 — We  intend  by  the  help  of  God  to  repent  of  all  our  sins  and  all  our 
heathenish  ways  &  customs.  We  will  put  them  all  behind  our  Backs,  and 
will  never  look  on  them  again  but  will  look  strait  forward  and  run  after 
thristianity. 

3 — If  we  shall  try  to  set  up  a  School  we  beg  the  Assistance  of  the  Eng- 
lish if  they  see  fit. 

4 — We  desire  that  strong  Drink  may  be  prohibited,  that  it  may  not  be 
brought  among  us  for  we  find  it  kills  our  Bodies  and  Souls;  and  we  will  try 
to  hinder  it  here. 

5 — We  desire  to  be  protected  on  our  Lands,  that  none  may  molest  or 
encroach  upon  us. 

6 — This  Belt  of  Wampum  shall  bind  us  fast  together  in  perpetual  I>ove 
and  Friendship. 

Mr.  Occom  delivered  it  to  those  Gentlemen  to  whom  it  was  directed,  but 
obtained  their  Leave  to  bring  it  hither  to  gratify  my  Curiosity,  and  a  curi- 
ous Girdle  it  is.  M""  Occom  says  it  could  not  be  made  for  less  than  £\^ 
sterling.i'^ 

This  address  was  delivered  to  Occom  in  the  council-house 
after  an  hour's  deliberation,  and  in  the  presence  of  "  a  great 
number  of  Indians."  He  regarded  the  occasion  as  significant 
— the  Oneidas'  formal  welcome  to  Christianity.^^  As  this 
meeting  was  on   the   i8th  of  September,  the  night  before  he 

^*  The  whereabouts  of  this  famous  wampum  belt  is  now  unknown  to  us.  Two  years 
afterwards  the  Indians  wished  it  returned,  thinking  themselves  neglected.  yNarra- 
tive,  1767,  p.  28.]  Doctor  Wheelock  had  sent  it  back  to  New  Vorl:.  When  Occom 
went  to  England,  Doctor  Whitaker  wrote  for  it,  as  follows:  "  Mr.  Occom  says 
yt  w'l  he  was  in  N.  York  last  fall,  he  saw  the  religious  belt  of  Wampom  sent  by  him 
to  New  York  when  he  returned  from  his  Mission  among  the  Oneidas,  which  belt  was 
to  be  sent  to  Scotland.  He  says  it  was  then  in  Judge  \Vni  Smiths.  .  .  .  This 
would  be  of  great  use  to  us  as  Mr.  Occom  remembers  the  Speach.  Pray  procure  it 
and  send  it  to  us  in  all  haste"  [Wheelock  Papers,  Lett.  December  3,  1765].  They 
received  it  either  before  they  sailed  or  after  reaching  London,  and  it  was  used  in  pre- 
senting the  cause  to  the  General  Assembly  and  churches  in  Scotland  [Communica- 
tion in  the  New  London  Gazette,  Sept.  25,  1767,  dated  at  Edinburgh,  July  S,  1767]. 

15  W/ieelock's  Narrative,  1767,  pp.  27,  28.  The  date  here  sliould  be  the  iSth 
instead  of  the  8th,  as  we  learn  from  other  sources. 


94 


SAMSON  OCCOM 


left  them,  he  had  been  there  about  nine  weeks.  A  part  of 
the  time  Edward  Johnson  had  been  his  interpreter;  but  such  a 
method  of  communication  was  unsatisfactory.  Therefore,  he 
took  a  young  Oneida  Indian  home  with  him  as  his  tutor  in  the 
language  during  the  winter.  He  and  Fowler  soon  learned  to 
speak  in  the  Oneida  tongue  with  fluency,  and  to  some  extent 
they  acquired  the  languages  of  other  tribes. 

While  Occom  was  at  Oneida,  he  wrote  a  letter,  it  seems,  to 
Mr.  Bostwick,  giving  some  account  of  his  experiences.  There- 
upon the  president  of  the  correspondents  addressed  a  commu- 
nication to  the  directors  of  the  society  in  Scotland,  September 
23d,  which  was  printed  in  connection  with  the  anniversary 
sermon  of  Thomas  Randall  in  1763.-^^  From  this  we  quote  Mr. 
Bostwick's  opinion  of  the  mission  and  the  missionary  : 

He  has  met  with  a  very  favourable  reception ;  perhaps  the  more  so,  on 
account  of  his  being  an  Indian,  He  writes,  That  there  are  four  considera- 
ble towns  on  the  Oneyda  lake  :  That  they  have  already  built  a  house  for 
religious  worship,  where  he  preaches  every  Lord's  day  :  That  he  has  bap- 
tized five  or  six  persons  this  summer;  and  that  there  are  many  adjacent 
tribes  among  whom  he  intends  to  make  excursions.  He  has  retained  his 
mother-tongue,  and  can  speak  the  language  of  his  own  tribe  (which  is  the 
Mohegon)  something  better  than  he  can  the  English.  But  the  Oneyda  lan- 
guage differs  so  much  from  the  Mohegan,  that  he  is  obliged  to  use  an  inter- 
preter for  the  present,  tho'  doubtless  he  would  learn  their  language  well  in 
a  little  time,  could  he  reside  among  them.  He  is  married  to  an  Indian 
woman,  who  is  also  esteemed  truly  pious,  and  has  six  children,  with  whom 
he  would  gladly  dwell  in  the  wilderness  if  he  could  be  supported  as  a  Mis- 
sionary, and  very  easily  might  his  children  be  educated  in  that  language — 
He  v/ell  understands  the  bissiness  of  farming,  having  chiefly  supported  his 
family  by  it,  while  he  preached  to  the  handful  of  Indians  upon  Long  Island  ; 
and  therefore,  could  instruct  the  Indians  in  cultivating  their  lands,  which 
are  very  good.  He  has  acquired  a  tolerable  acquaintance  with  Latin, 
Greek  and  Hebrew,  with  the  sciences  &c.  and  is  really  a  good  Divine.     His 

16  Supplement  to  Randall's  sermon  on  "Christian  Benevolence,"  preached  Jan.  3, 
1763,  with  the  title  "An  Account  of  some  late  Attempts  by  the  Correspondents  of  the 
Society  for  Propagating  Christian  Knowledge  to  Christianize  the  North  American 
Indians.     Edinburgh.     Printed  in  the  Year  M.DCC.LXIII."     8°  pp.  12. 


OCCOAPS  MISSIONS    TO    THE    ONEIDA   INDIANS 


95 


piety  is  unquestionable,  having  been  manifested  by  a  more  than  ten  years 
exemplary  conduct.  His  temper  is  very  amiable  and  Christian  like,  full  of 
humility  and  meekness.  His  heart  is  much  set  on  preaching  the  gospel  to 
the  Indians,  and  he  seems  willing  to  spend  and  be  spent,  to  do  or  suffer  any- 
thing for  their  conversion  and  salvation.  In  short,  nothing  is  wanting  to  fix 
him  there,  but  a  support.  He  purposes  to  come  down  this  autumn  and 
spend  the  winter  with  his  family  (yet  on  Long  Island),  and  'tis  likely  he 
will  try  to  remove  his  family  to  the  Oneyda  lake  in  the  spring.  We  shall 
endeavour  to  support  him  by  contribution  till  some  surer  method  can  be 
found  or  assistance  be  obtained  from  some  charitable  Society  in  Scotland 
or  England.  I  therefore  humbly  request,  as  this  event  has  opened  so 
agreeable  a  prospect  for  spreading  the  gospel  among  the  Heathen,  that  the 
Society  would  receive  Mr.  Occom  as  their  Missionary  with  proper  instruc- 
tions, and  liberty  to  draw  upon  them  for  such  salary  as  they  shall  fix  ;  and 
would  commit  the  ipanagement  of  said  mission  to  those  of  the  Correspond- 
ents who  reside  in  this  city,  as  we  are  most  convenient  to  write  to,  or  receive 
intelligence  from  that  part  of  the  wilderness. 

His  journey  homeward  was  begun  on  the  19th  of  September 
from  Kanawarohare  via  Tuscarora  and  Old  Oneida.  At  the 
latter  place  he  preached  on  the  following  Sabbath  to  a  large 
assembly  of  Indians.  On  the  25th  they  were  at  Fort  Herki- 
mer, and  Occom  was  compelled  to  remain  there  several  days 
because  his  horse  strayed.  He  was  then  somewhat  broken  in 
health.  The  life  in  the  wilderness  had  so  affected  his  eyes 
that  he  had  been  unable  to  read  or  write  for  some  weeks. 
During  his  mission  he  had  received  no  word  from  Doctor 
Wheelock,  though  several  letters  had  been  sent.  Fowler 
probably  left  him  there,  going  directly  to  Lebanon,  and 
Occom  returned  by  the  way  of  New  York  to  Montauk,  where 
he  arrived  on  the  22d  of  October.  Thus  ended  his  first  mis- 
sion to  those  Oneida  villages  where  Samuel  Kirkland  after- 
wards spent  his  life. 

He  set  out  on  his  second  mission  in  the  month  of  June. 
1762.  That  season  he  did  not  have  the  companionship  of 
David  Fowler.  This  Mercury  of  the  Indian  missions  made  a 
trip  to  Johnson  Hall  in   behalf  of  the  school,  and  return.-.]  ih,- 


96  SA  A/so  AT  OCCOM 

i8th  of  July  with  three  Indian  youth. ^^  The  best  account  we 
have  of  the  Oneida  mission  that  season  is  in  a  letter  from 
Doctor  Wheelock  to  Rev.  George  Whitefield  : 

Lebanon  16  Sep*"  1762 
My  very  dear  and  Hon'i  Sir. 

David,  my  Indian  Scholar  returned  July  18  from  the  Mohawk  Country, 
where  I  informed  you  in  my  last  I  sent  him,  and  bro*  with  him  4  Indian 
Boys,  three  Mohawks  and  one  of  the  Farmington  Tribe.  The  Boys  and 
Girls  which  I  expected  from  Onoyada  were  detained  by  their  Parents  on 
accot  of  a  Rumour,  &  Suspicion  of  a  War  just  comencing  between  them 
and  the  Nations  back  of  them  and  in  such  a  case  they  %^  they  did  not 
chuse  to  have  their  Children  at  such  a  distance  from  them,  but  perhaps 
they  were  Suspicious  y*  they  should  be  obliged  to  Joyn  those  Nations 
against  the  English.  The  English  youth  of  which  I  informed  you,  who  has 
been  a  Captive  with  the  Senecas  till  he  is  Master  of  their  Language,  and 
which  I  sent  for  with  a  view  to  fit  him  for  the  Interpreter  to  that  Nation, 
was  under  such  ingagements  to  a  Trader  at  Block  Fort  as  that  he  could 
not  get  released  for  the  present.  I  have  again  wrote  to  Gen^  Johnson  who 
was  not  at  Home  when  David  was  there  till  the  Night  before  David  came 
away,  to  procure  and  send  y*^  youth  if  he  esteems  him  likely  to  answer  the 
Design. 

M^"  Occom  writes  me  a  very  meloncholly  Letter,  viz,  that  by  an  untimely 
Frost  last  fall  their  Indian  Corn  was  all  cut  off — y'  the  Onoyadas  are 
almost  starved  havS  nothing  to  live  upon  but  what  they  get  by  Hunting — 
that  they  had  then  just  come  in  from  their  Pigeon  Hunt — and  were  going  a 
fishing — as  soon  as  they  return  from  that  they  will  go  after  Deer — that  he 
followed  them,  but  found  it  very  Difiicult  to  get  a  number  of  them  together 
to  preach  to  them — that  by  hard  living  (tho'  they  were  as  kind  as  they 
could  be)  and  especially  lying  upon  the  wet  ground  his  old  Disorder,  (viz 
Rhumatic)  returnd,  and  he  was  apprehensive  he  must  return  before  the 
Time  appointed — that  he  lived  in  fear  of  being  killd,  tho'  the  Indians  had 
promised  him  in  case  a  war  should  break  out,  they  would  send  him  under  a 
Sufficient  Guard,  down  as  far  as  the  English  Settlements.  But  there  was 
Something  good  in  his  Letter,  viz.  that  there  were  visible  good  Effects  of 
his  Labours  among  them  last  year  &  especially  a  Reforniation  among  them 
as  to  their  Drinking.  .  .  . 

ELEAZAR    WllEELOCK.l^ 

^"i  Wheelock  Paper s,\.t.\X'=>.  July  6,  1762,  and  Aug.  20,  1762.  Doc.  Hist,  of  N.  K, 
IV,  313.  The  date  of  Fowler's  return,  in  Doctor  Wheelock's  letter,  is  the  i8th, 
though  he  enters  the  pupils  in  his  list  on  the  2Sth. 

^^Whcelock  Papers^  Lett.  Sept.  16,  1762. 


OCCOAPS  MISSION   TO    THE    OX  EI  DA   INDIANS        97 

Occom  returned  earlier  that  autumn  than  was  intended  "on 
account  of  the  present  ruffle  which  y''  Oneidas  are  in,  being 
engaged  in  a  war  with  some  of  the  natives  back  of  them." 
This  condition  of  affairs  .also  affected  the  Indian  mission  at 
Onohoquaga.^^  (Jn  his  way  home  he  preached  in  the  white 
settlements  along  the  Hudson  river  wherever  he  could  gather 
a  congregation.  His  ministry  was  very  acceptable,  particu- 
larly in  the  region  about  seventy  miles  above  New  York, 
where  there  was  considerable  religious  interest.  This  fact  was 
made  known  to  the  Suffolk  Presbytery,  meeting  at  Huntington 
on  the  twenty-eighth  of  October,  whereupon  they  passed  the 
following  minute  :  "  A  great  Number  of  People  adjoining  or  near 
to  the  North  River,  being  Destitute  of  a  preached  gospel  as  Rep- 
resented to  the  Presbytery  by  Mr.  Sacket,  together  with  a  pros- 
pect of  Mr.  Occum  being  greatly  serviceable  among  them, 
the  Presbytery  doth  Recommend  it  to  Mr.  Occum  to  go  & 
Labour  among  sd  People  in  the  work  of  the  gospel  Ministry  as 
much    of    the    Ensuring    Winter    as    his    Circumstances    may 

1'  The  mission  at  Onohoquaga  (Colesville,  Broome  Co.,  N.  V.)  had  been  resumed 
in  1 761  by  the  Boston  commissioners  of  the  London  Society.  They  voted  July  13th 
to  send  Hawley  thither  with  Amos  Toppan  on  a  visit.  They  went  and  returned  in 
October.  In  1762  Rev.  Eli  Forbes  and  Asaph  Rice  [Sprague's  Annals  I.  493] 
were  sent  out,  some  say  by  the  London  commissioners  and  others  by  the  Boston  cor- 
respondents of  the  Scotch  Society.  The  fact  is,  this  was  a  union  mission,  entered 
into  by  the  commissioners,  correspondents  and  authorities  of  Harvard  College,  in 
view  of  the  incorporation,  Feb.  11,  1762,  of  the  "Society  for  Propagating  Christian 
Knowledge  among  the  Indians  of  North  America"  by  Massachusetts,  which  was 
intended  to  combine  these  agencies,  and  whose  charter  failed.  The  Scotch  Society 
took  the  lead  and  was  assisted  by  the  otiiers,  hence  the  confusion.  Messrs.  Forbes 
and  Rice  started  June  ist  and  arrived  at  Onohoquaga  about  the  middle  of  the 
month  {Conn.  Hist.  Soc,  Lett.  Forbes  to  Occom,  July  26,  1762.].  They  established 
schools  and  formed  a  church.  Mr.  Forbes  returned  in  September,  and  his  place 
was  to  be  filled  by  Rev.  Joseph  Bowman,  ordained  Aug.  31,  1762  (ordination  ser- 
mon by  Dr.  Chauncey  in  print),  who  was  delayed  by  illness.  The  wars  then  inter- 
rupted this  mission.  In  1765  it  was  resumed  under  the  Boston  commissioners,  who 
sent  out  Rev.  Ebenezer  Moseley  (son  of  Rev.  Samuel  Moseley  of  Windham  [Hamp- 
ton], Conn.),  with  James  Dean  as  interpreter  and  Rev.  Gideon  Hawley  to  introduce 
them.  Mr.  Moseley  remained  in  this  mission  until  Feb.,  1772,  when  he  was  succeeded 
by  Rev.  Aaron  Crosby,  who  continued  there  until  August,  i  777. 
S 


98  SAMSON  OCCOM 

admit."  Undoubtedly  he  went.  It  was  his  first  experience 
as  an  itinerant  preacher  in  the  region  where  he  was  after- 
wards a  frequent  and  welcome  visitor. 

Again,  in  the  season  of  1763,  Occom  made  a  visit  to  the 
Oneida  country.  He  was,  however,  soon  compelled  to  return 
on  account  of  the  Pontiac  War.  The  same  calamity  befell  the 
mission  that  year  undertaken  by  Rev.  Charles  Jeffry  Smith, 
with  Joseph  Brant  as  guide  and  interpreter,  upon  which  they 
set  out  on  the  fourth  of  July.  Mr..  Smith  had  been  a  tutor  at  the 
school  and  was  ordained  at  Lebanon  on  the  thirtieth  of  June, 
Doctor  Wheelock  preaching  the  sermon,  which  was  printed  in 
London  in  1767.^°  That  season,  also,  Rev.  Samuel  Ashbow 
was  turned  back  from  Jeningo,  whither  he  had  gone  on  the  6th 
of  August.  In  consequence  of  the  war  all  missionary  opera- 
tions were  suspended. 

Meanwhile  Doctor  Wheelock,  at  the  suggestion  of  the  Min- 
isters' Association  which  met  in  Hartford,  May  12,  1763,  had 
memorialized  the  General  Assembly  of  Co*nnecticut,  requesting 
that  a  brief  be  issued  for  collections  in  the  churches.  This 
request  was  granted.  The  brief  contained  the  following  state- 
ment of  the  case  :  "  And  seriously  considering  the  present  new 
and  extraordinary  Prospect  (by  the  Blessing  of  Heaven  on  his 
Majesty's  Arms)  Doth  greatly  encourage  an  Attempt  to  pro- 
mote Christian  Knowledge  and  Civility  of  Manners  among  the 
Indian  Nations  of  this  Land."'-^^     This  public  approval  seemed 

20  Charles  Jeff ry  Smith,  the  son  of  Henry  and  Ruth  (Smith)  Smith,  was  born  in 
Brookhaven,  L.  I.,  in  1740,  and  graduated  at  Yale  College  in  1757.  After  studying 
theology  for  some  years  at  Mew  Haven,  he  assisted  Doctor  Wheelock  in  his  school 
during  the  winter  of  1762  and  further  prepared  himself  for  an  Indian  mission.  Upon 
the  failure  of  his  mission  in  1763,  he  returned  to  Long  Island  where  he  had  a  con- 
siderable estate.  Subsequently  he  preached  about  in  Virginia  and  the  south,  whither 
he  purposed  to  remove  in  1770,  but  on  the  loth  of  August  he  was  killed  by  the  dis- 
charge of  his  gun,  either  by  accident  or  intent  while  temporarily  insane.  Rev.  Samuel 
Buell  preached  a  sermon  on  the  death  of  his  friend  which  is  in  print.— Dexter's 
Yale  Biographies,  H,  495-497. 

2"  Wheelock  Papers^  MS.  and  Broadside,  which  was  printed  at  New  London  by  T. 
Green.  The  Conn.  Hist.  Soc.  has  the  broadsides  of  1763  and  1766.  Se&  Conn.  Col. 
Rec.X.11,  151,  152.     Conn.  Archives,  Coll.  and  Schools,  II,  i,  2. 


OCCOM'S  MISSION  TO    THE    ONEIDA   INDIANS        99 

encouraging.  Governor  Fitch  even  promised  to  mention 
the  matter  in  his  Thanksgiving  proclamation.  But  before  the 
brief  had  been  published  in  all  the  churches,  the  Indian  War 
had  caused  a  reaction  in  popular  sentiment  unfavorable  to 
such  ventures.  The  General  Assembly,  therefore,  in  the  Octo- 
ber session,  at  the  suggestion  of  some  who  had  not  contrib- 
uted, ordered  the  discontinuance  of  the  publication. ^^  Three 
years  afterwards,  that  body  at  its  May  session,  upon  Doctor 
Wheelock's  memorial,  ordered  a  second  brief.'^^  He  received 
from  the  first  about  £\o,  and  from  the  second  about  ;z^i55, 
which  proved  of  great  assistance  in  his  accounts. 

The  failure  of  Doctor  Wheelock  hitherto  to  secure  a  charter 
for  the  Indian  school  had  led  him  to  look  for  some  organized 
board  in  which  to  vest  the  responsibility.  His  enterprise 
needed  the  confidence  of  the  public,  which  no  private  manage- 
ment could  long  retain.  He  had  enemies  at  Boston  among  the 
correspondents  of  the  Scotch  Society.  It  was  also  evident 
that  the  commissioners  of  the  "  Society  for  Propagating  the 
Gospel"  would  aid  him  only  to  a  limited  extent.  He  saw  that 
the  appropriation  from  the  Sir  Peter  Warren  legacy  would 
soon  cease,  as  it  did  in  1765.  In  his  perplexity  he  turned  to 
his  friends  abroad,  and  made  application  to  the  "  Society  in 
Scotland  for  Propagating  Christian  Knowledge  "  for  the  estab- 
lishment of  a  Board  of  Correspondents  of  that  society  in  Con- 
necticut similar  to  those  in  New  York  and  Boston.^"*  This  re- 
quest was  granted  and  such  a  board  was  constituted  by  a  vote 
of  the  parent  society,  March  13,  1764.^^  The  following  men, 
nominated  by  Doctor  Wheelock,  were  appointed  to  comprise 
it :    Jonathan   Huntington,  Esq.,  of  Windham,  Elisha  Sheldon, 

Conn.  Col.  Rec,  XII,  193;  McClure's  Mem.  of  Wheelock,  pp.  236,  237. 

23  Conn.  Col.  Rec,  XII,  490,  491. 

24  Wheelock  seems  to  have  made  an  application  March  24,  1762,  which  was  not  re- 
ceived, and  to  have  renewed  it  September  21, 1763. — Chase's  Hist,  of  Dart.  Coll.,  p. 
35.     Cf.  McClure's  Mem.  of  Wheelock,  p.  242. 

25  See  the  commission  in  McClure's  Mem.  of  Wheelock,  pp.  34-36. 


lOO  SAMSON  OCCOM 

Esq.,  of  Litchfield,  Mr.  Samuel  Huntington  of  Norwich,  Rev. 
Messrs.  Solomon  Williams  of  Lebanon,  Joseph  Fisk  of  Ston- 
ington,  William  Gaylordof  Norwalk,  Samuel  Moseley  of  Wind- 
ham, Eleazar  Wheelock  of  Lebanon,  Benjamin  Pomeroy  of 
Hebron,  Richard  Salter  of  Mansfield,  Nathaniel  Whitaker  of 
Norwich,  and  David  Jewett  of  New  London.  These  names 
are  given  to  make  evident  the  fact  that  most  of  them  were  his 
personal  friends  and  in  fact  members  of  the  Windham  Associ- 
ation, which  had  long  fathered  his  school.  The  purpose  of  this 
board,  as  expressed  in  its  commission,  was  "to  receive  dona- 
tions from  well-disposed  persons,  and  to  employ  the  same  for 
promoting  Christian  knowledge,  in  such  manner  as  shall  be 
directed  by  the  donors,  and  failing  such  direction,  to  devise 
schemes  for  propagating  our  holy  religion  among  the  Indians, 
and  to  carry  them  into  execution."  This  commission  was  for- 
warded March  15,  1764,  by  Doctor  Wheelock's  friend.  Rev. 
John  Erskine,  of  Edinburgh,  was  received  in  June,  and  on  the 
fourth  of  July  the  correspondents  met  for  organization.  Rev. 
Solomon  Williams  was  chosen  president,  Mr.  Jonathan  Hunt- 
ington, treasurer,  and  Doctor  Wheelock,  secretary.  By  this 
board  the  standing  of  the  schopl  was  greatly  improved.  The 
secretary  wrote  Doctor  Erskine,  "  I  feel  my  hands  strengthened, 
and  heart  encouraged  thereby ;  and  account  it  a  great  token  of 
God's  favour  towards  the  general  design." 

After  the  discouragements  of  1763,  Samson  Occom,  seeing 
no  prospect  of  doing  service  among  the  Six  Nations, -turned  to 
his  friends,  the  commissioners  at  Boston,  who  had  hitherto  sup- 
ported him.  On  the  twenty-third  of  February,  1764,  they  voted 
to  employ  him  as  missionary  to  the  Niantics,  "  apprehending 
that  he  might  serve  them  as  also  the  Mohegans  and  other 
Indians  in  that  neighborhood,"  fixing  his  salary  at  £2^0  per 
annum,  as  they  had  proposed  in  1759.  This  was  a  service 
much  to  Occom's  desires.  He  knew  these  tribes  and  was  re- 
spected among  them.     Doctor  Wheelock  wrote  Whitefield  say- 


OCCOM'S  MISSION   TO    THE    ONEIDA    INDIANS       lOI 

ing,  "  He  is  zealous,  preaches  to  good  acceptance,  y«  Indians 
at  Mohegan  and  Nihantic  are  all  to  a  man  attached  to  him,  his 
assemblies  much  crowded  with  English  as  well  as  Indians  &  I 
think  a  good  prospect  of  his  usefulness. "^^  He  accepted  this 
ministry  on  the  third  of  April,  and  at  once  set  about  removing 
his  family  from  Montauk  to  Mohegan.  It  was  then  that  he 
"  lost  by  distress  of  weather  a  considerable  part  of  what  he 
had."     This  was  partly  made  up  to  him  by  his  friends. 

At  Mohegan  was  his  tribal  inheritance.  His  mother,  his 
brother  Jonathan  and  his  sister  Lucy  were  then  living  there. 
He  held,  according  to  the  customs  of  his  tribe,  a  tract  of  land 
containing  several  acres.  Probably  it  was  the  very  place  in 
"Ben's  town  "  where  his  father  had  lived.  Here  he  set  about 
building  a  house  for  the  accommodation  of  his  large  family. 
It  stood  on  the  hillside  about  half  a  mile  north  of  the  present 
Mohegan  chapel  and  east  of  the  Norwich  and  New  London 
highway.  He  has  left  us  no  record  of  its  dimensions,  but  it 
was  well  built  and  clapboarded  with  cedar.  The  cost  was 
something  over  ;^ioo  and  the  account  shows  that  much  of  the 
labor  on  it  was  perfgrmed  by  his  fellow  Indians.  This  house 
survived  until  quite  recent  times.  It  became  a  famous  land- 
mark and  was  frequently  visited  by  those  who  were  interested 
in  the  tribe  or  knew  the  story  of  the  Mohegan  minister. 

In  1772  Messrs.  McClure  and  Frisbie  tarried  there  over 
night,  and  the  former  wrote  in  his  diary  :  "  His  house  was  a 
decent  two-story  building.  We  lodged  in  a  good  feather  bed 
in  a  chamber  papered  &  painted  ;  adjoining  was  his  Library  of 
a  handsome  collection,  brought  by  him,  principally  from  Great 
Britain." 

The  well-known  sketch  of  this  house,  here  reproduced,  was 
made  by  John  W.  Barber  when  on  his  tour  in  that  region  and 
was  published  in  his  volume  of  Connecticut  Historical  Collec- 

'^^Wheelock  Papers,  Lett.  May  18,  1764. 


I02  SAMSON  OCCOM 

tions.2^  Doctor  Wheelock  wrote  Whitefield  about  it,  "  Mr. 
Occoms  house  is  covered  and  likely  to  be  made  comfortable 
for  his  Family  this  winter.  The  expense  of  which  is  much 
more  than  I  expected. "^^  Occom  intended  to  do  much  of  the 
work  himself,  but  he  was  called  away  by  Wheelock,  as  we 
shall  presently  see,  and  the  house  was  not  completed  that  sea- 
son. Moreover,  the  bills  were  not  paid  as  Wheelock  had 
agreed  when  Occom  went  into  his  service.  As  matters  turned 
out  for  the  Indian,  the  building  of  this  house  was  a  providen- 
tial circumstance.  It  gave  him  a  home  in  the  midst  of  his 
acres  at  a  time  when  he  had  not  much  beside  to  depend  on. 
He  was  thus  established  in  the  midst  of  the  Indian  settle- 
ments of  Connecticut  where  he  afterwards  labored.  Thither 
many  of  them  went  to  seek  his  counsel.  Even  the  white  man, 
as  he  traveled  along  the  turnpike  road  from  the  north  or  the 
south,  turned  aside  to  greet  the  Indian  preacher.  We  have 
the  words  of  one  who  met  him  there  in  the  May  of  that  very 
year :  "  In  passing  .  .  .  through  the  Mohegan  country, 
I  saw  an  Indian  man  on  horseback  whom  I  challenged  as  Mr. 
Occom,  and  found  it  so.  There  was  something  in  his  mien 
and  deportment  both  amiable  &  venerable;  and  though  I  had 
never  before  seen  him,  I  must  have  been  sure  it  was  he."^^ 

It  will  be  noted  that  Occom  had  only  been  at  Mohegan  a 
few  weeks  before  the  commission  constituting  the  Connecticut 
correspondents  of  the  Scotch  Society  was  received.  At  their 
first  meeting  they  voted  to  take  him  into  their  service  if  the 
commissioners  at  Boston  would  release  him.  This  they  did 
on  the  twenty-fifth  of  July,  on  condition  that  the  correspondents 
would  employ  him  in  a  mission  westward.  The  release  was 
received  on  the  third  of  August  and  three  days  afterwards  the 

"^"^  Conn.  Hist.    Coll., -p.  340;     De  Forest's  Indians  of  Conn.,  p.  463,;  Bostonian 
March,  1895,  p.  677. 
28  Wheelock  Papers,  Lett,  Oct.  10,  1764. 
2"  Wheelock  Papers,  Lett.  John  Smith,  May  18,  1764. 


THK    M  OH  EG  AN    CHAPEL,     1831 


SAMSON    OCCOM's    HOUSE    AT    MOHEGAN 


OCCOM'S  MISSION  TO    THE   ONEIDA   INDIANS       IO3 

correspondents  met.  They  agreed  to  send  him  to  the  Mohawk 
country  as  soon  as  possible,  to  teach  and  preach  as  he  had 
opportunity,  and  to  go  on  the  way  to  Lake  Ontario  until  he 
met  Sir  William  Johnson,  then  returning  from  Detroit,  with  a 
view  to  offering  missionaries  to  the  Western  Indians  who  were 
in  his  company.  He  was  also  to  prepare  the  way  for  the 
schoolmasters  whom  Wheelock  was  intending  to  send  to  the 
Six  Nations  the  following  season.  David  Fowler  was  to  be 
again  his  companion  and  they  were  to  bring  back  fifteen  or 
twenty  Indian  youth. 

This  move  was  a  mistake  and  in  some  respects  a  serious 
one.  It  was,  however,  the  means  of  strange  developments, 
which  altered  the  course  of  Occom's  life  and  eventually  affect- 
ed the  future  of  the  Indian  school.  The  Connecticut  corres- 
pondents had  no  means  to  forward  this  mission.  Doctor 
Wheelock  was  already  in  debt  for  the  maintenance  of  his 
pupils.  He  presumed  to  depend  upon  the  efforts  of  Rev. 
George  Whitefield,  then  in  New  York,  through  whom  he  had 
only  shortly  before  received  ;^i  20,  York  money.  On  the  seventh 
of  August  he  wKote  Whitefield  a  letter  in  which  he  said,  "  We 
have  done  this  without  money  on  the  credit  of  the  great  Re- 
deemer." His  patron  did  not  look  at  the  matter  in  that  light. 
Occom  and  Fowler  did  not.  Armed  with  letters  to  General 
Gage  and  Sir  William  Johnson,  they  set  out  August  27th  by 
boat  from  Norwich  to  wait  on  Whitefield  at  New  York,  "  by 
whom  or  some  other  means  "  they  had  been  led  to  expect  their 
mission  would  be  supported.  Occom  doubtless  summed  up 
his  thoughts  on  the  voyage  when  he  wrote,  "  It  looks  like  Pre- 
sumption for  us  to  go  on  a  long  Journey  thro'  Christians  with- 
out Money,  if  it  was  altogether  among  Indian  Heathen  we 
might  do  well  enough  " — a  characteristic  remark  which  he  did 
not  intend  to  be  humorous.  They  reached  New  York  safely 
and  met  Whitefield.  He  was  greatly  displeased  at  the  plan, 
not  a  little  offended  at  Wheelock's  course,  and  declined  to  aid 


104  SAMSON  OCCOM 

in  forwarding  the  mission.  Thus  the  scheme  of  reaching  the 
Indians  of  the  far  West  was  crushed.  Occom  was  returned 
home  to  Mohegan,  and  Fowler  resumed  his  place  in  the  school. 
This  ended  Occom's  connection  with  the  Oneida  missions. 
He  only  made  a  hasty  journey  the  next  season  to  Sir  William 
Johnson  to  obtain  testimonials  which  he  might  take  to  Eng- 
land. He  had  done  a  worthy  service  in  the  early  dawn  of  a 
brighter  day  for  Kanawarohare. 


CHAPTER   VI 

SAMUEL    KIRKLAND    AND    HIS    INDIAN    FRIENDS 
1765-1768 

Among  all  the  English  youth  who  devoted  their  lives  to 
Indian  missions,  and  went  out  from  NeiW  England  to  the  Six 
Nations,  Samuel  Kirkland  was  the  foremost.^  His  name  will 
always  be  honored  in  that  region  of  New  York  where  once  the 
Oneidas  roamed  through  the  primeval  forest,  and  where  now 
he  sleeps  under  the  protection  of  Hamilton  College  with  the 
Christian  chief  Skenandoa  by  his  side.  His  ancestors  were 
among  the  original  settlers  at  Saybrook  when  that  romantic 
colony  was  planted  in  1635,  and  thence  his  father,  Daniel 
Kirtland,  went  to  Yale  College  to  prepare  for  his  ministry  of 
thirty  years  over  the  Newent  Society  in  Norwich,  now  the  First 
church  of  Lisbon,  Connecticut.  Here  the  son,  Samuel,  was 
born  December  i,  1741,  being  the  fourth  in  a  family  of  eleven 
children.  He  seems  to  have  had  his  thoughts  turned  in  his 
youth  toward  a  missionary  life,  and  possibly  through  an  ac- 
quaintance with  Samson  Occom,  who  was  known  in  every  min- 
ister's household  of  the  region.  Having  at  least  this  purpose 
distinctly  in  view  he  entered  the  Indian  Charity  School,  October 
31,  1760.  He  there  formed  those  friendships  with  the  Indian 
pupils  which  were  of  great  service  to  him  and  to  them  through- 
out his  life.      Prominent   among  these  was  Joseph  Brant,  of 

»  See  on  the  life  of  Samuel  Kirkland,  Life  of  Kirkland,  Sparks'  Am.  Biog.,  Vol. 
XXV  ;  McClure's  Mem.  of  Wheelock;  Grid!ey's  Hist,  of  Kirkland ;  Jones'  Annals 
of  Oneida  County;  Chase's  Hist,  of  Dartmouth  College;  Sprague's  Annals,  I,  623; 
Ded.  of  Monument  to  Samuel  Kirkland,  Utica,  1873  ;  ^*SS.  Wheelock  Papers,  Dart. 
Coll.;  New  York  Arch.,  Albany  ;  Conn.  Hist.  Soc.  Indian  Papers;  dind  Papers  of  Mr. 
Thornton  K.  Lothrop. 


Io6  SAMSON  OCCOM 

whom  he  began  to  learn  the  Mohawk  language,  and  with  whom 
he  set  out  November  4,  1 761,  on  a  journey  to  Sir  William  John- 
son, returning  on  the  twenty-seventh  of  the  same  month.  On 
the  third  of  November  the  year  following  he  entered  the  sopho- 
more class  of  Princeton  College,  on  that  day  opening  what  he 
called  his  "  Accompt  with  the  Christian  World."  Here  he 
was  largely  supported  by  charity.  The  reason  why  he  left 
college  before  his  graduation,  which  has  never  been  fully 
stated,  was  twofold — the  difficulty  of  obtaining  the  funds  to 
continue  him  there,  and  the  need  Doctor  Wheelock  had  of 
sending  just  such  a  man  into  active  missionary  work.  So  the 
young  college  student,  who  had  taken  the  fancy  of  spelling 
his  name  Kirkland,  was  despatched  November  20,  1764,  to 
the  savage  Senecas,  having  the  Delaware,  Joseph  Wooley,  as  a 
companion  part  of  the  way.  The  Indian  then  began  his  work 
at  Onohoquaga,  whence  he  shortly  passed  to  his  reward.  Sam- 
uel Kirkland  went  on  to  the  Senecas,  where  he  was  engaged 
for  a  year  and  a  half  in  the  most  adventurous  mission  of  the 
time.  It  raised  him  at  once  to  the  front  rank  as  a  missionary 
to  the  Indians.  Doctor  Wheelock  wrote  of  this  service  to  the- 
Countess  of  Huntingdon  thus:  "This  bold  adventure  of  his, 
which  considered  in  all  the  circumstances  of  it,  is  the  most 
extraordinary  of  the  kind  I  have  ever  known,  has  been 
attended  with  abundant  evidence  of  a  Divine  blessing."*^ 

The  season  of  1765  was  the  most  eventful  in  the  history  of 
Doctor  Wheelock's  Indian  missions.  It  seemed  to  him  that 
the  time  had  come  to  prove  that  his  pupils  were  fitted  for 
usefulness.  On  the  twelfth  of  March  the  Connecticut  Board  of 
Correspondents  met  at  Lebanon  to  examine  his  cafndidates. 
It- was  a  memorable  day.  At  the  very  hour  of  their  meeting 
there  arrived  from  Onohoquaga  "  Good  Peter"  after  a  journey 
of  three  hundred  miles  through  the  deep  snow — the  envoy  of 
the  Oneidas  to  ask  for  a  minister.     Within  half  an  hour  Elisha 

2  McC lure's  Mem.  of  Wheelock,  p.  264. 


SAMUEL   KIRK  LAND   AND   HIS  INDIAN  FRIENDS  IO7 

Gunn  knocked  at  the  minister's  door.  He  was  an  interpreter 
of  ten  years'  experience  by  whom  they  were  enabled  to  under- 
stand the  message  of  Good  Peter.  Doctor  Wheelock  was  im- 
pressed with  this  coincidence,  that  the  Indian,  the  interpreter 
and  the  minister  designed  for  that  very  place  should  thus  meet 
"  without  any  previous  appointment  or  the  least  knowledge  of 
each  other's  design."  Messrs.  Titus  Smith  and  Theophilus 
Chamberlain  were  examined,  and  on  the  24th  of  April  ordained.* 
David  Fowler,  Joseph  Wooley  and  Hezekiah  Calvin  were  ap- 
proved as  schoolmasters.  Jacob  Fowler,  Moses,  Johannes,  the 
Abrahams  and  Peter  were  thought  fit  to  be  ushers.  Our  story 
has  to  do  mainly  with  the  Fowlers  and  Joseph  Johnson  — 
subsequently  approved  as  an  usher — though  others  were  em- 
ployed in  the  Western  missions  during  the  next  four  years. ^ 

3  Titus  Smith  was  born  in  Granby,  Mass.,  June  4, 1 734,  and  graduated  at  Yale  Col- 
lege in  1764.  After  his  brief  missionary  service  he  lived  at  South  Hadley,  Mass., 
and  New  Haven  and  Danby,  Conn.  He  became  a  Sandemanian  and  a  Tory,  and 
took  refuge  after  the  war  in  Nova  Scotia,  where  he  died  in  1807.  [Chase's  Hist,  of 
Dart.  Coll.,  p.  43  n.  i.]  He  started  with  Chamberlain  June  19,  1765,  having  Elisha 
Gunn  as  interpreter,  and  was  destined  for  Onohoquaga  ;  but  famine  scattered  the 
Indians  there  and  Smith  with  Moses  went  to  Lake  Utsage  (Otsego),  where  they 
remained  some  weeks..  In  August  he  went  to  Onohoquaga,  but  his  purpose  failed 
through  the  jealousy  of  the  commissioners  who  had  sent  Moseley  thither  and  he 
returned  home.— Chase's  Hist,  of  Darttnouth  College,  p.  43;  Narrative,  1767, 
p.  44. 

Theophilus  Chamberlain,  son  of  Ephraim  Chamberlain,  was  born  in  Northfield, 
Mass.,  Oct.  20,  1737.  He  was  in  Capt.  John  Burke's  company  at  Fort  William 
Henry  in  1757,  and  was  taken  prisoner  by  the  Indians.  On  his  release  he  entered 
Yale  College  and  graduated  in  1765.  Doctor  Wheelock  put  him  in  charge  of  the 
Mohawk  schools,  where  he  continued  in  service  until  he  was  released,  July  i,  1767. 
He  is  said  to  have  lived  afterwards  at  New  Haven  and  Danby,  Conn. 

*  David  McClure,  the  son  of  John  and  Rachel  (McClintock)  McClure  of  Boston, 
was  born  in  Newport,  R.  I.,  Nov.  18,  1748,  and  entered  Wheelock's  school  in  June, 
1764.  In  1765  he  went  to  Yale  College,  where  he  graduated  in  1769.  He  was 
absent  on  a  mission  to  Oneida  from  July  7,  1766,  to  Dec.  8,  1766,  teaching  in  the 
place  of  David  Fowler.  After  his  graduation  he  became  the  master  in  the  Indian 
school,  removing  with  it  to  Hanover,  and  was  ordained  there  May  20,  1772,  with 
Levi  Frisbie.  They  started  June  19th  on  a  mission  to  the  Delaware  Indians  at 
Muskingum,  and  returned  Oct.  2,  1773.  [Narr.,  1773,  pp.  44-68.]  McClure  was 
subsequently  settled  at  North    Hampton,  N.  H.,  from    1776  to   17S5,  and  at   East 


I08  SAMSON  OCCOM 

David  Fowler  was  appointed  to  teach  a  school  at  Kanawa- 
rohare.  His  testimonial  from  Doctor  Wheelock  spoke  of  him 
as  "  a  youth  of  good  abilities,  whose  activity  and  prudence, 
fortitude  and  honesty  have  much  recommended  him.  .  .  . 
He  goes  to  settle  down  among  the  Oneidas  as  school  master, 
and  has  a  design  to  set  them  an  example  of  agriculture  for 
support,  and  do  what  he  can  to  recommend  that  manner  of 
living  to  the  Indians."  This  industrial  feature  of  the  mission 
seems  to  have  originated  with  Fowler.  He,  at  least,  was  its 
warmest  advocate.  His  experience  in  superintending  such 
affairs  at  Lebanon  had  disposed  him  to  consider  it  as  impor- 
tant. It  certainly  was  a  feature  favorably  received  by  the  In- 
dians, as  their  letters  show.*^  He  set  out  on  the  twenty-ninth 
of  April,  carrying  a  letter  to  Sir  William  Johnson  informing  him 

Windsor,  Conn.,  from  1786,  to  his  death  there,  June  25,  1820. — Sprague's  Annals  II, 
7-9  ;  Diary  of  David  McClure. 

Aaron  Kinne  was  born  in  1744,  in  Newent  (Lisbon),  Conn.,  and  graduated  at 
Yale  College  in  1765.  He  went  out  July  7,  1766,  to  teach  the  school  at  Old  Oneida 
and  returned  in  October.  Again  he  was  sent  to  supply  Kirkland's  place  in  May, 
1768,  and  returned  August  i6th.  He  was  ordained  in  1770  at  Groton,  Conn.,  and 
settled  there  until  1798.  His  death  occurred  at  Talmadge,  Ohio,  July  9,  1824. 
— Allen's  Biog.  Diet. 

David  Avery  was  born  at  Norwich  Farms  (Franklin),  Conn.,  April  5,  1746,  being 
the  son  of  John  and  Lydia  (Smith)  Avery.  He  entered  Wheelock's  school  Jan.  2, 
1764,  and  afterwards  Yale  College  where  he  graduated  in  1769.  The  summer  of 
1768  was  spent  in  teaching  the  school  at  Canajoharie.  In  1770  he  began  preaching 
at  Smithtown,  L.  I.,  and  thereabouts,  and  was  ordained  at  Hanover,  N.  H.,  Aug.  29, 
1771,  to  be  sent  out  as  an  assistant  to  Kirkland;  but  he  left  the  service  the  year  fol- 
lowing on  account  of  his  health.  He  was  a  well-known  chaplain  in  the  Revolution, 
and  had  settlements  at .  Gageborough  (Windsor),  Mass.,  and  Bennington,  Vt.  He 
died  Feb.  16,  1818. — Chase's  Hist,  of  Dart.  Coll.;  Sprague's  Annals  I,  697;  and 
Jennings'  Mem.  of  Bennington.  Hi=  manuscript  diaries  are  in  the  possession  of  his 
descendant,  George  A.  Clark,  Esq.,  of  Utica,  N.  Y. 

Phineas  Dodge  was  sent  out  in  the  autumn  of  1 767  to  assist  Kirkland  and  teach 
Fowler's  school.  He  returned  with  Kirkland  the  following  spring.  Allyn  Mather 
went  with  Ralph  Wheelock  in  his  journey  in  the  spring  of  1768.  Augustine  Hibbard 
went  on  a  similar  journey  in  1767.  [A'arr.,  1769,  p.  138;  Chapman's  Alumni  of 
Dart.  Coll.]  Samuel  Johnson,  of  Yale  College  in  the  class  of  1769,  was  also  employed 
in  these  missions. 

'  Wheelock' s  Narrative,  1767,  pp.  46-48. 


SAMUEL   KIRKLAND   AND   HIS  INDIAN  FRIENDS 


109 


of  the  design,  money  and  letters  for  Samuel  Kirkland,  and  an 

address  from  Doctor  Wheelock  to  the  Indian   sachems.®     He 

reached  Johnson  Hall  on  the  eleventh  of  May,  met  there  with 

Kirkland,  and  they  journeyed  westward  together.     To  secure 

Indian  youths,  he  went  to  Onohoquaga,  but  in  this  he  failed. 

He   then   began   his   school   at   Kanawarohare,  where  he  had 

been  with  Samson  Occom  in   1761.     We  will  let  him  tell  his 

own  story  in  two  of  his  letters  :' 

Onoyda,  May  29^'^  1765 
Revd  &  Hond  Sir 

After  much  Fatigue  and  Discouragement  by  the  Way  I  reach'd  here  last 
Sabbath  Day  in  the  Morning.  I  got  up  to  Johnson  Hall  nth  instant, 
deliver'd  all  what  you  sent  by  me  both  money  and  Letters  to  Mr  Kirtland, 
— His  Honour  Sir  William  Johnson  was  in  such  great  Business  that  we 
could  not  speak  to  him  under  five  Days. — I  have  been  down  to  Onoho- 
quawge  to  get  those  Boys  Joseph  appointed  to  go  down  to  School,  but  I 
could  get  none  of  them.  Some  said,  they  had  too  much  Work  to  do  and 
others  said  that  I  came  away  too  soon,  and  some  said  they  will  let  their 
Children  go  [to]  School  there  [a]  little  while  and  they'll  send  them.  I 
suppose  they  would  send  their  Children  if  I  waited  two  or  three  weeks,  but 
I  was  unwilling  to  tarry  so  long  for  the  Gentlemen's  motion. 

I  have  settled  Joseph  Wooley  with  his  Help,  as  School  Master  at  Onoho- 
quawge,  he  is  greatly  belov'd  there,  it  will  be  best  for  him  to  return  as  soon 
as  possible.  He  has  done  nothing  there  worth  mentioning  besides  learning 
their  Language. — We  heard  how  he  was  settled  last  Fall.  I  understood 
when  I  was  down  that  there  was  no  such  thing  mentioned. — Mr.  Kirtland  is 
gone  up  to  Seneke  Country  again  :  he  sot  out  from  this  Place  24th  instant 
and  with  a  heavy  Heart :  things  go  on  contrary  to  his  Mind.— I  am  greatly 
concernd  about  him. — He  took  my  Horse  up  with  him,  he  told  me  that  he 
would  bear  all  the  Blame,  for  he  should  kill  himself  if  he  carried  all  what 
he  wanted  upon  his  Back.— I  believe  he  will  send  the  little  Creature  very 
soon  by  those  men  whom  Sir  William  sent  to  fetch  down  the  English  Pris- 
oners from  that  Place.  I  understood  so  much  about  our  Ministers  when  I 
was  down  to  Onohoquawge  I  think  it  will  not  do  for  them  to  go  together, 
they  must  be  separate,  one  of  them  must  come  up  here,  and  the  other  to 
Onohoquawge.  If  they  should  go  together  from  Place  to  Place  their  com- 
ing will  be  to  none  affect :    Because  they  expect  the  Ministers  will  settle  & 

^Doc.  Hist.  ofN.  K,  IV,  356  ;  McClure's  Mem.  of  Wheelock,  pp.  259-263. 
-  Wheelock  Papers.     Another  letter,  of  June  15th,  is  in  print,  Narrative,  1767.  pp. 
38,  39.    Chase's  Hist,  of  Dart.  Coll.,  p.  44. 


no  SAMSON  OCCOM 

tarry  with  them. — They  are  suspicious  People.  They  '11  soon  get  some- 
thing another  against  them  if  they  don't  tarry  in  one  Place  that  will  strike 
off  all  their  Affections  from  them.  If  they  lose  the  Affections  of  these 
People  it  is  over  with  them. — I  can't  express  myself  by  writing  as  I  could 
by  talking.— I  live  like  a  Dog  here,  my  Folks  are  poor  and  nasty.  I  eat 
with  Dogs,  for  they  eat  &  drink  out  of  the  same  as  I  do. — I  shall  need  ten 
Dollars  more.  It  would  best  for  Calvin  to  come  here,  here  is  one  pretty 
Town  just  by  me  and  good  many  Children.  I  must  go  down  to  German 
Flats  to  get  Provision,  after  that  I  shall  set  down  to  my  School.  Here  are 
great  Number  of  Children,  but  I  cant  tell  how  many  Scholars  I  shall  have. 
I  believe  my  singing  School  will  exceed  the  other  in  Number.  I  cant  get 
but  one  Boy  here. — You  will  know  why  I  could  get  no  more  by  the  Speach 
I  send  you.  Joseph  Wooley  is  almost  nacked.  I  am  oblig'd  to  let  him 
have  one  of  my  Shirts. 

I  shall  be  glad  [if]  you  would  send  me  another  Sir,  I  hope  you  won't 
let  this  Letter  be  seen.  I  have  no  Table  to  write  upon,  besides  I  have  not 
writ  so  long  my  Hand  is  out  of  order. — Please  to  give  my  kind  Respects  to 
Madam,  Master  and  Ministers.     Please  to  accept  much  Love  &  Duty  from 

Your  affectionate 

though  unworthy  Pupil 

David  Fowler 

Hon'i  and  Revd  Sir.  Oneida,  June  24.  1765 

I  now  write  you  a  few  Lines  just  to  inform  you  that  I  am  well  at  present^ 
and  have  been  so  ever  since  I  left  your  House.  Blessed  be  God  for  his 
Goodness  to  me.  I  am  well  contented  here  as  long  as  I  am  in  such  great 
Business.  My  Scholars  learn  very  well.  I  have  put  eleven  into  a,  b,  ab,  &c. 
I  have  three  more  that  will  advance  to  that  place  this  Week,  &  some  have 
got  to  the  sixth  page.  It  is  ten  thousand  pities  they  can't  keep  together. 
They  are  often  going  about  to  get  their  Provision.  One  of  the  Chiefs  in 
whose  House  I  keep  told  me  he  believed  some  of  the  Indians  would  starve  to 
Death  this  Summer.  Some  of  them  have  almost  consumed  all  their  Corn 
already. 

I  came  too  late  this  Spring.  I  could  not  put  any  Thing  into  the  Ground. 
I  hope  I  shall  next  year.  I  believe  I  shall  persuade  all  the  Men  in  this 
Castle,  at  least  the  most  of  them  to  labour  next  Year.  They  begin  to  see 
now  that  they  would  live  better  if  they  cultivated  their  Lands  than  they  do 
now  by  Hunting  &  Fishing.  These  Men  are  the  laziest  <Zxt\f  I  ever  saw  in 
all  my  Days.  Their  Women  will  get  up  early  in  the  Morning,  and  be 
pounding  Corn  for  Breakfast,  and  they  (the  men)  be  sleeping  till  the  Vic- 
uals  is  almost  ready,  and  as  soon  as  the  Breakfast  is  over,  fhe  Women  take 
up  their  axes  &  Hoes  &  away  to  the  Fields,  and  leave  their  Children  with 


SAMUEL   KIRK  LAND   AND  HIS  INDIAN  FRIENDS  III 

the  Men  to  tend.     You  may  see  half  a  dozen  walking  about  with  Children 
upon  their  Backs — lazy  and  sordid  Wretches — but  they  are  to  be  pitied. 

I  have  been  miserably  off  for  an  Interpreter — I  can  say  but  very  little  to 
them.     I  hope  by  next  spring  I  shall  be  my  own  Interpreter. 

It  is  very  hard  to  live  here  without  the  other  Bone.  I  must  be  obliged  to 
wash  &  mend  my  Clothes  &  cook  all  my  Victuals,  &  wash  all  the  Things  I 
use,  which  is  exceeding  hard.  I  shan't  be  able  to  employ  my  Vacant  hours 
in  improving  their  Lands  as  I  should  do  if  I  had  a  Cook  here. 

I  received  a  Letter  from  Mr  Kirtland  last  Sabbath  wherein  he  informs  me 
that  the  Indians  who  accompanied  him  left  him  with  all  his  heavy  pack. 
He  had  the  most  fatiguing  Journey  this  Time  he  ever  had.  He  designs  to 
come  down  to  get  Provision,  and  if  he  don't  he  will  eat  no  Bread  till  Indian 
Harvest,  and  his  Meat  is  merely  rotten  having  no  Salt. 

May  the  Blessing  of  Heaven  rest  on  you 

Your  affectionate  tho  unworthy  Pupil 
David  Fowler 

The  fears  to  which  Fowler  refers  were  realized.  A  famine 
reduced  the  Indians  that  summer  to  great  distress.  In  conse- 
quence they  left  their  villages,  and  scattered  in  search  of  food. 
Fowler,  therefore,  went  to  New  England,  and  returned  again 
as  the  harvest  drew  near.     We  again  produce  his  letters  •} 

Onoyda  September  23,  1765 
Honoured  Sir. 

I  arriv'd  here  on  the  fourth  instant  and  immediately  began  my  School ; 
but  it  is  very  small  at  present,  occasion'd  by  gathering  Corn  and  building 
Houses.  I  believe  I  shall  have  thirty  after  the  hurry  is  over — My  Scholars 
learn  very  fast,  some  have  got  to  the  eighth  Page.  I  am  yet  teaching  both 
Old  and  Young  to  sing,  they  can  carry  three  Parts  of  several  Tunes  neatly. 

I  made  it  a  long  time  before  I  got  up  here  because  I  had  such  [a]  heavy 
Pack. — I  bought  me  Plow  Irons  and  several  other  Things  which  I  could  not 
do  without  very  well.  I  have  got  the  little  Horse:  the  Man  ask'd  a  Dollar 
for  keeping  him  and  half  a  Dollar  for  going  with  me  ten  Miles  before  he 
would  deliver  the  Horse  to  me. — My  coming  up  so  slow,  buying  so  many 
things,  giving  Money  to  those  Women  and  bringing  two  Horses  almost 
took  all  my  Money  before  I  got  up;  I  think  I  was  very  prudent  with  my 
Money.— I  shall  want  twenty  Dollars  more,  also  I  shall  be  exceeding  glad 
[if]  you  would  send  me  a  Compleat  Letter  Writer  and  Guide  to  Prayer. 

8  Wheelock  Papers.  Another  letter,  of  Jan.  21,  1766,  is  in  print.  Chase's  Hist,  of 
Dart.  Coll..,  p.  45. 


112  SAMSON  OCCOM 

I  design  to  come  down  next  year  after  I  have  planted  Corn  and  my 
Garden  things  come  up,  so  that  I  may  be  able  to  tell  my  Children  how  they 
must  manage  the  Garden  in  my  Absence. 

Give  my  kind  Regards  to  Madame  and  Master.  I  could  not  write  to  him 
this  Time. — And  accept  much  Love  and  Duty  from 

your  affectionate 

though  unworthy  Pupil 

David  Fowler 

Canawarohare  Feb'^y  17,  1766 
Rev*^  Sir. 

I  receiv'd  yours  [of  the]  25"'  of  January  which  offer'd  me  much  Pleasure 
and  also  warn'd  me  against  those  things  which  I  am  so  much  addicted  to  : 
I  hope  your  Admonition  will  not  be  entirely  lost,  I  will  try  to  mind  what 
you  wrote  to  me. 

I  wrote  you  a  large  Letter  in  the  month  past  which  exhausted  all  the 
Matter  that  was  in  my  Head.  I  now  write  you  but  a  few  Lines. — I  am  pur- 
suing my  Business  with  all  Courage  and  Resolution  that  lies  in  my  Power 
or  Capacity.  Rev<^  M*"  Chamberlain  can  enform  you  what  Progress  my 
Scholars  have  made  in  learning  to  read  as  well  as  I  can. 

vSir,  I  am  almost  nacked,  my  Cloaths  are  coming  all  to  pieces  :  I  shall  be 
very  glad  all  the  Cloth  that  is  intended  for  me  be  in  readiness  against  my 
coming.  I  design  to  come  down  latter  End  of  May  or  beginning  [of]  June. 
I   have  nothing  new  to  acquaint  you  [with].     I   am   well  and  harty  also 

contented. 

I  am 

ReVi  Sir 

your  affectionate  Indian  Son 

David  Fowler 
P.  S.  Regards  to  Madam,  Sir  Wheelock  and  to  all  the  rest. 

Canowarohare  May  13,  1766 
Reverend  Sir 

I  am  very  sorry  I  can't  write  you  a  Letter  which  can  be  seen  abroad, 
because  M^  Kirtland  is  so  much  hurried  to  get  down  :  but  he  can  give  you 
a  proper  Idea  of  my  School  and  my  own  Affairs. — I  believe  I  may  venter  to 
write  my  secrets  to  you  as  I  wont  to  do,  since  I  have  so  often  seen  and  felt 
your  tender  Care  and  Affections.  I  have  wrote  a  large  Letter  to  Hannah 
Pyamphcouh  which  will  either  spur  her  up  or  knock  her  in  [the]  Head. — I 
therefore  ask  a  Favour  as  a  Child  from  [a]  kind  Father  or  Benefactor,  that 
this  Letter  may  be  sent  to  the  Supperscrib'd  Place  as  soon  as  you  get  it 
into  your  Hands.  For  I  shall  be  down  the  13  or  14  of  June  and  in  very 
great  Hast.     T  must  tarry  at  your  House  a  Week  or  ten  Days  the  longest 


SAMUEL  KIR KL AND   AND   HIS  INDIAN  FRIENDS  II3 

to  shed  my  skin,  for  I  am  almost  nacked  now.  I  want  all  my  Cloaths  to  be 
blue  and  that  which  is  good :  The  Reason  why  I  want  this  Letter  to  get 
down  so  soon  is  that  she  may  have  some  time  to  think  and  dress  herself 
up,  &  another  which  is  the  greatest  that  I  may  clear  myself  from  those 
strong  Bonds  wherewith  I  bound  myself  to  her  and  which  could  not  let  me 
rest  Night  and  Day  from  the  time  I  left  her  till  I  return'd  to  her  again, 
what  I  mean  about  clearing  myself  is  if  she  denies.  If  she  won't  let  her 
Bones  be  join'd  with  mine  I  shall  pick  out  my  Rib  from  your  House. 

Sir,  Dont  be  angry  with  me  for  write[ing]  so  bold  and  foolish.  I  hope 
you  will  not  expose  me — Give  my  Kind  Regards  [to]  Mrs  Wheelock  and 
Sir  Wheelock  and  to  all  the  Family,    accept  much  Love  and  Duty  from 

Your  unworthy  Pupil 

David  Fowler 

It  will  be  noted  that  David  Fowler  had  some  longings  for  a 
certain  missing  rib  to  which  he  several  times  refers.  At  first 
it  was  uncertain  who  would  officiate  in  that  capacity.  In  one 
letter  he  wrote  Doctor  Wheelock,  "  I  have  determined  to  have 
Amy  Johnson  for  my  companion.  Shall  marry  as  soon  as  I 
return  from  Oneida.  I  have  given  her  a  gold  ring  which  cost 
me  two  dollars."  Amy  was  then  living  at  Bull's  Tavern,  in 
Hartford.  VVe  conclude  that  she  was  otherwise  minded,  for 
in  the  above  letter  he  seems  to  have  made  a  proposal  to  Han- 
nah Poquiantup,  which  he  judged  would  "either  spur  her  up 
or  knock  her  in  the  head."  It  did  the  latter ;  but  he  kept  his 
promise  of  patronizing  the  female  department  of  Wheelock's 
school,  for  when  he  returned,  June  27,  1766,  he  speedily  con- 
summated an  engagement  with  Hannah  Garret.  She  was  a 
Pequot  maiden,  a  daughter  of  Benjamin  and  Hannah  Garret, 
and  a  descendant  of  the  well-known  Sachem  Hermon  Garret 
or  Wequash  Cook,  as  already  stated.  Her  parents  seem  to 
have  cast  in  their  lot  with  the  Narragansetts,  as  some  others  of 
the  Stonington  Pequots  did.  On  the  twenty-sixth  of  July  they 
set  out  to  visit  her  parents  at  Charlestown,  R.  I.,  where  the 
nuptials  were  soon  after  celebrated.  "  I  have  clothed  them 
well,"  says  Wheelock,  "and  furnished  her  in  part  for  house- 
keeping, have  also  supplied  them  with  two  Horses  and  Fur- 
9 


114 


SAMSON  OCCOM 


niture,  and  must  likewise  let  him  have  some  Husbandry  Tools, 
besides  one  or  two  Cows  and  a  Swine  :  and  hereby  I  hope 
they  will  soon  be  able  to  live  with  little  Expence  to  the  Public." 
All  they  had,  however,  they  carried  in  a  '•  Horse-Cart "  drawn 
by  "a  good  Pair  of  Horses"  when,  September  eighth,  they 
started  for  Oneida. 

The  favorable  opportunity  at  this  time  among  the  Oneida 
Indians  had  led  Doctor  Wheelock  to  withdraw  Samuel  Kirk- 
land  from  the  Seneca  mission  and  establish  him  at  Kanawaro- 
hare.  Thither  he  had  gone  early  in  July  ;  and  in  his  com- 
pany were  Tekananda,  the  Seneca  chief,  clad  in  the  scarlet 
regimentals  given  him  by  the  Connecticut  Assembly;'-*  Aaron 
Kinne,  destined  for  Old  Oneida ;  David  McClure,  going  to  abide 
with  Kirkland  and  learn  the  language  ;  Joseph  Johnson,  to  keep 
Fowler's  school  until  his  return  and  then  to  serve  under  him 
as  usher,  and  others  for  the  Mohawk  schools.  Jacob  Fow- 
ler was  the  companion  of  Samuel  Johnson,  going  to  Canajo- 
harie,  and  it  was  his  first  experience.  Then  began  the  more 
intimate  acquaintance  between  Samuel  Kirkland  and  David 
Fowler,  which  continued  for  many  years.  The  first  task 
which  engaged  them  was  the  building  of  a  house,  concerning 
which  some  information  is  given  in  the  following  letters  : 

Oneida,  15  Nov.  1766 
Rev.  and  ever  Honoured  Sir, 

Your  kind  affectionate  Letter  by  David  Fowler  came  safe  to  Hand, 
since  which  have  had  no  Opportunity  of  Conveyance;  gladly  embrace  the 
present  though  aniidst  the  greatest  Hurry  and  Crowd  of  Business.  I  have 
found  myself  under  a  necessity  of  Building  this  Fall,  to  live  with  the  least 
possible  Conveniency  and  Comfort.  Am  now  sorry  I  did  not  follow  your 
Advice  in  season,  though  David's  Delay  put  me  much  back.  Constant  and 
very  hard  Labour  abroad  for  upwards  of  seventy  Days,  with  many  other 
Troubles,  bring  me  down  very  much.  I  fear  I  have  seen  my  best  Days  for 
Hardships  and  an  Indian  Life;  a  little  over-straining  brings  an  old  Pain  in 
my  Breast.  Am  not  able  to  carry  a  Pack  of  a  moderate  Size  (30  or  40 
Weight)  without  spitting  Blood.     Yet  in  the  main  I   have  enjoyed   usual 

See  chapter  IV,  note  7. 


SAMUEL  KIRKLAND  AND  HIS  INDIAN  FRIENDS   I15 

Health  through  many  Fatigues.  Blessed  be  God,  I  am  not  discouraged  ; 
I  am  willing  to  wear  out  sooner  or  later,  if  only  it  may  be  in  the  Cause  of 
my  Divine  Master.  The  School  here  grows,  the  Scholars  have  made  good 
Proficiency  under  Mr.  McCluer.  Johnson  will  tarry  as  Usher  to  David 
till  next  Spring,  when  I  think  best  for  Moses  to  take  his  Place,  if  he  will 
answer  for  an  Interpreter.  I  have  had  Provisions  to  get  for  the  whole 
Company,  &c.  shall  want  Money,  &c.  The  Building  my  House  cost  ;!^20, 
besides  the  Work  we  have  done.  I  cut  and  drawed  all  the  Timber,  dug 
the  Cellar  12  Feet  square  and  six  deep  with  my  own  Hands,  before  David 
came.  Mr.  M^Cluer  has  afforded  me  much  Help  as  well  as  Comfort;  he 
bids  fair  for  Usefulness.  I  do  not  expect  to  get  my  Provisions  without 
much  Difficulty,  the  Roads  are  so  very  bad.  I  design  a  Journey  to  New- 
England  in  the  Spring,  &c. 

I  am,  Rev.  Sir,  Yours,  &c 

Samuel  Kirkland  i*^ 

Oneida,  Decemb""  2,  1766. 
Dear  Sister, 

I  take  this  opportunity  to  write  you  a  few  lines  just  to  let  you  know  that 
I  and  my  wife  are  well  at  pre[sent].  I  was  very  sorry  I  could  not  come 
down  &  see  you  before  I  came  away  from  Lebanon.  I  was  [in  very  great 
confusion.  I  hope  you  wont  take  it  hard  no  longer.  I  suppose  you  did. 
I  did  not  get  up  here  till  28th  Day  of  September,  but  we  got  up  very  well. 
M""  Kirtland  and  [I]  have  built  us  a  comfortable  House  with  Rooms  and 
two  Chimnies.  We  have  [a]  hard  task  to  go  through  this  Winter.  We 
[are]  oblig'd  to  fetch  all  our  Provisions  seventeen  Miles  on  our  Backs.  I 
tarried  too  long  down  Country,  it  put  us  Back  vastly 

I  have  no  strange  thing  to  tell  you.  I  and  my  [wife]  are  contented  here. 
No  more. 

I  am  your  loving  Brother 

D.  Fowler 
P.  S.     Give  my  [love]  to  all  your  children  &  all  your  Relations. 
[Address]. 
To.  Mrs  Mary  Occom 
Mohegan 

New-London  ^^ 

In  this  cabin,  then,  at  Kanawarohare,  Kirkland  was  established 
with  David  and  Hannah  as  his  housekeepers.  His  health,  as 
appears  from  his  letter,  was  even  then  impaired,  and  yet  there 

^'^Wheelock  Papers,  Lett.  Nov.  15,  1766 ;  Narrative,  1769,  pp.  3,  4. 
"Conn.  Hist.  Soc,  Indian  Papers, 


Il6  SAMSON  OCCOM 

were  sore  hardships  ahead  of  him.  The  winter  was  cold  and 
the  snow  was  deep.  Provisions  grew  scarce  at  the  forts.  What 
they  could  get  had  to  be  carried  in  their  packs  as  they  tramped 
over  the  seventeen  miles  on  snowshoes.  In  the  spring  Kirk- 
land  was  obliged  to  go  to  Lebanon  for  money  and  supplies; 
but  he  at  once  returned  to  his  post.  Soon  it  became  evident 
that  there  was  to  be  a  famine  in  the  land,  more  severe  even 
than  those  of  previous  summers.^-  Kirkland  anticipated  the 
emergency,  and,  to  diminish  the  force  needing  maintenance 
and  to  advise  Doctor  Wheelock,  he  sent  Jacob  Fowler  and 
Joseph  Johnson  home  to  Lebanon.  The  treasury  there  was 
empty  and  Wheelock  went  on  a  tour  eastward  to  secure  funds. 
Meanwhile  Kirkland  and  David  Fowler  came  into  great  distress. 
They  were  obliged  to  give  up  all  other  work  and  go  eeling  in 
Oneida  Lake.  While  David  was  away  on  one  of  these  expedi- 
tions for  food,  "  a  stately  boy  "  was  born  to  him  in  Kirkland's 
cabin.  This  was  the  young  David,  in  after  years  a  trusted 
messenger  through  the  wilderness  on  more  than  one  occasion. 
Still  the  food  failed.  In  some  wigwams  the  corn  was  reduced 
to  a  single  measure.  Their  only  hope  was  to  hold  out  until 
the  squashes  came  on.  ''  I  have  eat  no  Flesh  in  my  own 
House  for  nigh  eight  Weeks,"  says  Kirkland.  "  Flour  and 
Milk,  with  a  few  Eels,  has  been  my  Living — Such  Diet  with 
my  hard  Labour  abroad  doth  not  satisfy  Nature — My  poor 
People  are  almost  starved  to  Death.  ...  I  would  myself  be 
glad  of  the  Opportunity  to  fall  upon  my  knees  for  such  a  Bone 
as  I  have  often  seen  cast  to  the  Dogs."  Had  Sir  William 
Johnson  then  seen  him  he  would  have  had  as  good  reason  as 
when  he  returned  from  the  Senecas  to  exclaim,  "Good  God! 
Mr.  Kirkland,  you  look  like  a  whipping-post."  And  yet  those 
savages,  who  had  begun  to  love  him,  would  creep  out  of  their 

'2  These  famines  were  common  among  the  Indians,  but  there  had  not  been  a  good 
crop  in  the  Oneida  country  for  several  years.  In  1765  frosts  cut  off  the  Indian  corn, 
vermin  destroyed  it  in  1766,  and  some  kind  of  worm  in  1767.  The  latter  year  they 
had  no  pigeons.     See  the  account  of  a  pigeon-hunt  in  Cooper's  Pioneers. 


SAMUEL   KIRKLAND   AND   HIS  INDIAN  FRIENDS  II7 

hovels,  as  skeletons  might  out  of  their  graves,  to  help  him  hoe 
his  little  patch  of  corn.  Finally,  on  the  fourteenth  of  July, 
exhausted,  sleepless  and  hungry,  he  penned  these  words : 
"  David  is  going  down  for  Relief,  without  which  I  shall  perish 
soon.     My  Nature  is  almost  broke." 

Then  it  was  that  David  Fowler  distinguished  himself  as  an 
Indian  athlete.  In  ten  days,  on  foot  and  alone,  he  covered  the 
distance,  "above  four  hundred  miles,"  going  first  to  Lebanon, 
then  to  Springfield  and  back,  and  on  to  Boston,  seeking  "the 
Great  Minister  that  takes  the  care  of  Indians,"  to  whom  he 
came  at  last  one  evening.  After  two  days  he  set  out  to  return 
with  relief  by  the  shortest  route,  and  in  less  than  ten  days  he 
arrived  at  Kanawarohare  with  food  for  the  starving  missionary. 

These  relations  between  Kirkland  and  Fowler,  however,  were 
soon  to  end.  It  was  inexpedient  to  keep  up  the  schools  dur- 
ing the  summer.  Jacob  Fowler  and  Joseph  Johnson  were  de- 
tained at  Lebanon  until  the  autumn,  when  they  came  again. 
Johnson  taught  at  Old  Oneida  until  1768,  when  he  fell  into 
immorality  and  was  disgraced.  He  was  then,  be  it  noted,  only 
a  youth  eighteen  years  old.  Jacob  Fowler  remained  faithful 
so  long  as  there  was  work  for  Indians  in  the  Oneida  mission. 
The  main  reason  for  David  Fowler's  withdrawal  was  that  he 
was  needed  at  Montauk  "to  take  the  care  of  his  aged  and  suf- 
fering parents".  His  life  with  Kirkland  had  been  on  the  whole 
pleasant,  though  perhaps  the  white  man  had  been  too  much 
inclined  to  treat  the  Indian  as  his  servant.  Fowler  taught  his 
school  successfully,  and  his  pupils  made  "  laudable  profi- 
ciency;  "  but  he  found  no  opportunity  to  instruct  them  in  agri- 
culture, which,  he  wrote,  ^^  is  the  only  thing  that  icill  keep  them 
together  and  will  make  them  jnidtiply  a?id  thrive  in  the  ivorldy  ^^ 
It  must  be  said,  however,  that  there  was  some  dissatisfaction 
with  Doctor  Wheelock's  management  of  his  missions,  in  which 
Kirkland,  Occom    and  Fowler  shared.     This  was  increased  to 

^^Wheelock  Papers,  Lett.  Dec.  J,  1766. 


Il8  SAMSON  OCCOM 

serious  proportions  by  the  ill-advised  visits  of  his  son,  Ralph 
Wheelock.  It  led  eventually  to  the  withdrawal  of  Kirkland 
and  the  alienation  of  the  Indians.  One  fact  at  least  is  evident, 
the  good  man  who  took  the  care  of  Indians  had  assumed  a 
burden  which  he  had  not  the  means  to  support. 

So  David  Fowler,  of  whom  Wheelock  says  at  this  time, 
"  He  is  the  best  accomplished  of  any  Indian  I  know  " — sev- 
ered his  connection  with  his  friends  at  Kanawarohare,  and 
Kirkland,  with  a  shade  of  sadness,  wrote  on  the  8th  of  Sep- 
tember, 1767,  "David  and  Hannah  set  out  for  New  England 
tomorrow  morning." 


CHAPTER    VII- 

THE    MOHEGAN    LAND    CASE    AND    SAMSON    OCCOM 
1764-1769 

The  failure  of  Doctor  Wheelock's  proposed  mission  in  1764, 
through  the  disapproval  of  Mr.  Whitefield,  returned  Samson 
Occom  to  Mohegan.  He  had  good  reason  to  be  disappointed, 
if  not  disaffected,  because  of  the  way  his  friends  were  using 
him.  They  had  tempted  him  from  Montauk  by  a  mission 
westward  wljich  had  received  meager  support.  Then,  after  he 
had  reengaged  himself,  under  the  commissioners  of  the 
"Society  for  Propagating  the  Gospel,"  to  be  a  missionary 
among  the  Mohegans,  Niantics,  and  neighboring  tribes,  they 
had  secured  his  release  to  serve  under  them — the  Connecticut 
correspondents  of  the  Scotch  Society.  The  "  imprudent 
scheme  "  they  had  devised  came  to  nothing  through  no  fault 
of  his  ;  but  he  was  thrown  out  of  employment  and  sent  home. 
The  friendship  between  Whitefield  and  Wheelock  barely  with- 
stood the  strain,  and  doubtless  there  would  have  been  a  rup- 
ture had  not  the  celebrated  English  evangelist  already  sug- 
gested a  plan  for  assisting  the  Indian  Charity  School,  as  we 
shall  relate  in  the  next  chapter. 

Occom's  reappearance  at  Mohegan,  however,  was  an  impor- 
tant circumstance.  Interest  in  the  famous  Mohegan  Land 
Case,  or  Mason  Controversy,  as  it  was  sometimes  called,  had 
been  lately  revived  by  the  approaching  final  decision  on  the 
matter  in  England.  This  dispute  between  the  Mohegan 
Indians  and  the  Connecticut  Colony  as  to  the  ownership  of 
certain  lands,  which  the  tribe  claimed,  had  been  going  on  since 
the  beginning  of  the  century.  It  had  been  bre.d  in  the  bone 
of  the   Indians   of  Occom's  generation.     The  whites  also,  in 

119 
i 


I20  SAMSON  OCCOM 

that  region  particularly,  had  arrayed  themselves  on  one  side 
or  the  other — mostly  on  the  other.  Many  manuscripts  on  the 
subject  survive.  The  proceedings  of  the  royal  commissioners 
in  print  fill  a  volume  and  any  adequate  explanation  of  the 
issues  involved  would  fill  another.^ 

The  case  for  the  Colony  was,  in  brief,  that  the  famous  Sachem 
Uncas,  in  a  deed,  dated  September  28,  1640,  had  conveyed  to 
the  English  his  right  in  all  the  lands  which  he  had  occupied 
as  tributary  to  the  Pequots,  excepting  those  he  was  accustomed 
to  plant,  and  had  confirmed  the  same  by  a  conveyance,  dated 
August  15,  1659,  ^°  Major  John  Mason,  which,  in  turn,  the 
latter  had  surrendered  to  the  General  Court  of  the  Colony  as 
its  agent  March  14,  1660.  It  was  also  claimed  that  Uncas,  in 
1 68 1,  had  renewed  this  covenant  with  the  English,  and  had 
empowered  the  General  Court  to  dispose  of  the  Mohegan 
lands  for  plantations,  farms  and  villages.  The  Indians,  on 
the  other  hand,  maintained  that  the  instrument  of  1640,  for 
which  Uncas  had  received  "  five  and  a  half  yards  of  trucking 
cloth,  with  stockings  and  other  things  as  a  gratuity,"  had  only 
conveyed  a  right  of  preemption  to  settlers  of  the  Connecticut 
Colony  made  in  consequence  of  protection  against  the  Pequots, 
and  that  this  "jurisdiction  power"  was  all  that  had  been  con- 
firmed to  the  Colony  by  Mason  in  1660  and  by  Uncas  in  168 1. 
They  also  asserted  that  the  conveyance  to  Major  John  Mason 
and  his  heirs  merely  constituted  a  trusteeship,  made  for  their 
protection  against  foolish  sales  to  the  English.  He  was  then 
acting  as  their  guardian  and  continued  to  do  so  after  the  pro- 
fessed surrender  of  their  lands  to  the  Colony.     In  167 1,  being 

1  The  manuscript  volume  containing  the  proceedings  of  the  Court  of  Review  in 
1743  is  in  the  collections  of  the  Connecticut  Historical  Society.  The  State  Library 
and  Conn.  Hist.  Soc.  have  the  same  in  print  with  the  following  title:  "Governor 
and  Company  of  Connecticut,  and  Mohegan  Indians,  by  their  Guardians.  Certified 
Copy  of  Book  of  Proceedings  before  Commissioners  of  Review,  MDCCXLHI, 
London:  Printed  by  W.  and  J.  Richardson,  MDCCLXIX,"  4^,  pp.  283.  See  also, 
William  Samuel  yohnson  Papers  and  Indian  Papers'm  Conn.  Hist.  Soc;  and  State 
Archives,  Indian  Papers. 


MO  H EG  AN  LAND    CASE   AND  SAMSON  OCCOM      121 

then  aged  and  fearing  that  the  Indians  might  be  wronged 
after  his  death,  he  entailed  to  the  tribe  a  tract,  thereafter 
called  the  "  Sequestered  Lands."  This  view  of  the  case,  how- 
ever, was  greatly  prejudiced  by  this  act,  for  if  he  was  a  trustee 
he  should  have  restored  all  the  lands,  and  if  they  belonged  to 
the  Colony  he  had  no  right  to  entail  any  part  of  them  to  the 
Indians.  The  Mason  heirs  contended  for  the  rights  of  this 
.trusteeship,  which  Oweneco,  the  son  of  the  sachem,  confirmed 
to  Samuel  and  Daniel  Mason,  sons  of  the  guardian.  Upon  a 
petition  of  the  Indians,  drawn  by  their  advocate,  Nicholas 
Hallam,  Esq.,  .and  presented  to  Queen  Anne,  a  commission 
was  issued  July  19,  1704,  for  the  trial  of  the  case.  Governor 
Joseph  Dudley  of  Massachusetts  presided  over  the  court,  and, 
though  the  agents  of  Connecticut  protested  against  the  com- 
mission as  an  infringement  of  their  charter,  a  decree  was  given 
in  favor  of  the  Indians.  The  Colony  appealed  to  the  crown, 
and  a  commission  of  review  was  granted  in  1706  ;  but  this  was 
never  used.  A  committee  was  finally  appointed  by  the  Gen- 
eral Court  in  17 18,  to  examine  all  claims  within  the  sequestered 
lands ;  but  after  three  years  they  decided  to  set  apart  and 
entail  to  the  tribe  about  five  thousand  acres  and  allow  the 
white  claimants  to  keep  the  rest.  The  Mason  party  were  not 
satisfied,  and,  failing  to  obtain  satisfaction  from  the  General 
Court,  an  appeal  was  made  to  the  crown.  The  case  was 
reopened,  and  a  new  commission  of  review  was  granted  June 
3»  ^737>  which,  failing  in  its  duty,  was  succeeded  by  another 
ordered  January  8,  1741-42.  This  latter  commission  was 
composed  of  Cadwallader  Colden,  Philip  Cortland,  John  Rod- 
man, Daniel  Horsmanden,  and  Robert  H.  Morris.  After 
reviewing  the  case  at  length  the  majority  decided  in  favor  of 
the  Colony,  Horsmanden  and  Morris  dissenting,  and  so  the 
decree,  which  had  stood  in  support  of  the  Mohegan  claim  for 
thirty-eight  years,  was  reversed,  except  as  to  the  aforementioned 
five  thousa«d  acres. 


122  SAMSON  OCCOM 

Meanwhile  the  Indians  had  become  divided  on  the  matter. 
The  action  of  the  General  Court  in  supporting  the  claim  of 
Major  Ben  Uncas  for  the  sachemship  against  Mamohet  in 
1723,  had  naturally  created  a  party  favorable  to  the  Colony, 
who  were  willing  to  accept  the  settlement  of  1721.  On  the 
other  hand,  the  tribal  attachment  to  the  Masons  and  the 
hopes  of  redress  won  many  to  their  cause.  Thus,  in  view  of 
a  final  decision  on  the  Mason  appeal  to  the  king,  the  Indians., 
and  the  whites  round  about  were  in  a  turmoil  when  Samson 
Occom  returned,  in  1764,  to  Mohegan.  As  to  the  case  itself, 
which,  notwithstanding  the  attempts  of  sixty  years,  had  never 
received  a  fair  and  full  trial,  the'  decision  was  against  the 
Indians.  It  was  said  that  a  desire  to  conciliate  the  Colony  in 
a  distracted  time  had  much  to  do  with  this  result.  Occom 
wrote,  "It  is  a  pure  favour." 

This  long-standing  contest,  or  the  revival  of  it  in  his  time, 
had  a  great  influence  over  the  subsequent  opinions  of  Samson 
Occom,  as  to  the  Indian's  relation  to  his  land.  It  educated 
him  in  such  matters.  He  saw  the  necessity  of  a  compact 
tribal  organization  ;  recognized  the  weakness  of  his  people  in 
foolishly  selling  their  lands  ;  realized  the  dangers  of  allowing 
the  whites  to  settle  among  them ;  and  concluded  that  the 
Indians  would  never  advance  greatly  in  civilization  until  they 
were  forced  to  cultivate  the  soil  for  support.  We  shall  see 
how  he  used  his  knowledge  and  experience  for  the  benefit  of 
the  New  England  Indians.  Most  of  all,  this  dispute  led  Occom 
to  see  and  to  assert,  as  he  did  many  times,  that  his  people 
would  never  accept  the  Christian  religion  until  they  were 
treated  with  more  justice  by  their  neighbors.  One  of  the 
New  England  fathers,  the  best  known  judge  of  the  Massachu- 
setts Bay  courts,  once  wrote  :  "  It  will  be  a  vain  attempt  for 
us  to  offer  heaven  to  them,  if  they  take  up  prejudices  against 
us,  as  if  we  did  grudge  them  a  living  upon  their  own  earth." 
This  was  an   opinion  which   Samson  Occom  formed  in  conse- 


MOHEGAN  LAND   CASE  AND  SAMSON  OCCOM      123 

quence  of  his  acquaintance  with  the  Mohegan  Land  Case  and 
which  he  expressed  in  almost  the  same  words.  He  believed 
that  his  tribe  had  been  cheated,  and  doubtless  he  said  so. 
His  family  had  long  been  loyal  to  the  Ben  Uncas  claim  to  the 
sachemship.  Yet  he  was  one  of  that  party,  among  which  were 
the  most  intelligent  of  the  tribe,  who  thought  that  the  over- 
seers, as  agents  of  the  Colony,  were  using  the  sachem  as  a 
tool  for  their  own  ends.  He  refused  to  surrender  his  opinion 
or  compromise  by  any  agreement  with  the  overseers.  This 
brought  him  at  least  under  suspicion  of  antagonism  to  the 
Colony.  He  seems  never  to  have  expected  redress.  At  the 
same  time  he  entertained  no  animosity  toward  the  Colony  or 
the  whites.  He  knew  well  that  they  had  done  much  for  his 
people.  When  the  final  decision  came  at  last,  he  wrote  as 
follows:  "  The  grand  controversy  which  has  subsisted  between 
the  Colony  of  Connecticut  and  the  Mohegan  Indians  above 
seventy  years,  is  finally  decided  in  favor  of  the  Colony.  I  am 
afraid  the  poor  Indians  will  never  stand  a  good  chance  with 
the  English  in  their  land  controversies,  because  they  are  very 
poor,  they  have  no  money.  Money  is  almighty  now-a-days, 
and  the  Indians  have  no  learning,  no  wit,  no  cunning  :  the 
English  have  all."  ^ 

There  was  a  sequel  to  this  controversy  in  the  life  of  Sam- 
son Occom,  to  which  we  now  turn.  The  school  at  Mohegan 
had  been  kept  since  1752  by  a  Scotchman  named  Robert 
Clelland,  under  the  patronage  of  the  Boston  commissioners. 
His  salary  was  not  large — only  ;^2o  a  year — but,  in  his  own 
words,  his  "  Scots  spirite  was  bigger  than  his  salary."  He  had 
lived  in  a  tenement  attached  to  the  schoolhouse  or  near 
it,^  and  by  means  of  his  noonday  distributions  of  bread,  paid 
for  by  the  Colony,  he  had  succeeded  in  maintaining  the  cause 

^Caulkins'  Hist,  of  Norwich,  p.  269. 

3  This  was  the  schoolhouse  of  former  years,  and  stood,  we  tliink,  where  the  one 
does  at  present.  It  had  been  repaired  in  1742  and  1752.  In  1757  the  teacher's 
house  was  repaired. — Cojin.  Archives,  Coll.  and  Schools,  I,  109,  125. 


124  SAMSO.V  OCCOM 

of  education.  Rev.  David  Jewett,  as  minister  of  the  Indians 
in  the  town,  was  lecturing  to  them  at  ^15  per  annum,  and 
overseeing  the  school.  Messrs.  Jewett  and  Clelland  were 
friendly  to  the  colony  in  the  land  case.  The  former  would 
lose  all  his  acres  if  the  Indians  should  win — so  it  was  re- 
ported. Remember  now  that  Ben  Uncas  was  considered  to 
be  a  tool  of  the  Colonial  party,  in  consequence  of  which  the 
majority  of  the  tribe  were  alienated  from  him,  and  we  have  a 
situation  out  of  w^hich  trouble  w^as  sure  to  arise.  It  began 
w^hen  Occom  expressed  an  unfavorable  opinion  of  the  school- 
master, and  cast  some  blame  on  Mr.  Jewett  for  keeping  him  in 
the  place.  The  fact  was  that  the  commissioners  themselves 
were  not  fully  satisfied,  and  had  questioned  him  in  the  matter. 
He  did  make  the  following  charges  against  Clelland  :  that  he 
took  so  many  English  youth  that  the  Indians  were  crowded 
out,  that  he  had  no  government  and  did  not  teach  carefully, 
that  he  did  not  pray  in  his  school  nor  teach  the  Indians 
English  manners,  that  he  neglected  the  school  and  did  not 
furnish  the  dinners  according  to  agreement,  and  that  he  used 
the  Indians'  horses  without  their  leave.*  These  seemed  to  him 
to  be  good  grounds  for  dismissing  the  schoolmaster ;  but  his 
action  awakened  great  opposition.  When  later  he  went  to 
Boston,  Ben  Uncas  wrote,  "  Samson  is  an  uneasy,  restless 
man,  he  is  gone  to  Boston  to  get  the  commissioners  to  dis- 
miss our  school-master."^  This  was  not  true.  Clelland  had 
already  been  dismissed  by  their  vote  of  September  19,  1764. 
He  did  not  seem  to  understand  this  or  he  did  not  receive 
their  notice,  and  was  again  dismissed  the  5th  of  July,  1765, 
having  served  for  thirteen  years. ^     Mr.  Jew^ett  had  some  feel- 

*  Cotin.  Hist.  Soc,  Indian  Papers,  Doc,  April  26,  1764. 

^  Conn.  Archives,  Indian  Papers,  II,  258. 

6  Clelland  continued  to  live  at  Mohegan  some  years.  The  society  aided  him  in  his 
"  old  age  "  in  1770,  and  he  petitioned  again  in  1775.  He  was  succeeded  by  VS^illard 
Hubbard,  who  taught  until  operations  were  suspended  by  the  Revolution. — MS. 
Rec.  Soc.  for  Prop.  Gos. 


MOHEGAN  LAND   CASE   AND  SAMSON  OCCOM       1 25 

ing  toward  Occom  on  account  of  this  affair.  He  considered 
that  he  was  the  authorized  supervisor  of  the  school,  and  that 
Occom  had  interfered.  On  the  other  hand,  the  Indian  resented 
the  meddlesomeness  of  the  whites,  and  the  English  minister  in 
particular,  in  their  tribal  affairs.  He  was  a  councilor.  His 
influence  was  great.  He  openly  expressed  his  views  on  the 
land  case  and  advised  his  people.  Probably  also  he  had 
something  to  say  about  Mr.  Jewett's  own  land  interests.  Yet 
all  this  was  not  so  great  a  cause  for  trouble  as  the  success 
which  Occom  met  with  as  a  preacher  when  he  removed  to 
Mohegan.  The  Indians  had  long  been  considered  as  belong- 
ing to  Mr.  Jewett's  parish.  Some  of  them,  it  will  be  remem- 
bered, were  members  of  his  church.  Occom  began  to  hold 
services  in  the  schoolhouse,  and  at  once  all  the  Indians  of  his 
party  and  some  of  the  whites  gathered  to  his  standard.  He 
was  n^ot  at  fault  in  this, — it  was  the  work  he  had  been  com- 
missioned to  do  for  the  Indians,  and  he  made  no  effort  to  in- 
fluence the  English.  However,  the  white  minister  quite 
naturally  became  jealous.  Doctor  Wheelock  wrote  thus  to 
Whitefield :  ^ 

The  Breach  between  Mr  Jewett  &  M""  Occom  grows  wider — M^  Jewett's 
People  and  a  great  Number  from  other  neighbouring  Parishes  flock  to  hear 
M"".  Occom  on  Lord's  Days  at  Mohegan  &c  the  Effect  of  which  you  may 
easily  guess.  And  M""  Jewett  is  like  to  lose  all  his  Land  in  his  Parish,  if 
the  Indians  there  should  gain  their  point  in  their  Suit  against  the  Govern- 
ment in  an  old  affair  called  Mason's  Case  lately  revived.  And  M''  Occom 
can't  avoid  being  considered  as  a  Party  while  he  continues  there.  The 
affair  is  too  long  (if  I  were  enough  acquainted  with  it)  to  give  you  such  a 
particular  acco^  as  perhaps  will  be  best  you  should  have  if  you  should  take 
M'  Occom  to  England  with  you.  This  together  with  their  Controversy 
with  their  School  Master  has  made  a  great  Ferment  among  them,  and 
Ml"  Occom  is  blamed  by  some  that  he  will  advise  the  Indians,  that  he  will 
suffer  the  English  to  flock  to  hear  him  &c ' 

This  was  an  affront  which  a  minister  could  hardly  bear  in 
those  days  of  his  autocratic  power.     Here  was  a  prophet,  and 

•Wheelock  Papers,  Lett.  Oct.  10,  1764. 


126  SAMSON  OCCOM 

he  an  Indian,  who  had  some  honor  in  his  own  country.  But 
Doctor  Wheelock  did  not  tell  the  whole  story.  Those  who 
flocked  to  hear  Occom  were  mostly  such  as  sympathized  with 
the  Indians  in  their  contest  against  the  Colony.  The  conse- 
quence was  that  a  storm  of  popular  feeling  was  raised  against 
Occom.  It  grew  to  such  proportions  that  "one  scarcely  dared 
to  mention  his  name."  He  was  called  an  enemy  of  the  Colony, 
a  "bad,  mischievous  and  designing  man,"  and  other  names 
which  a  pious  person  of  that  time  could  consistently  use  against 
an  Indian.  Mr.  Jewett  also  wrote  the  commissioners  at  Boston, 
making  charges  against  him.  We  do  not  doubt  that  Occom 
resented  this  treatment.  He  may  have  used  some  expressions 
which  were  not  altogether  to  his  credit. 

When  the  excitement  had  somewhat  subsided,  the  newly- 
organized  Connecticut  Board  of  Correspondents,  meeting  at 
Lebanon  on  that  eventful  day  when  "Good  Peter"  unex- 
pectedly arrived,  took  up  the  matter  with  the  design  of  sifting 
the  charges  and  effecting  a  reconciliation.  Occom  and  Jewett 
were  present.  We  give  the  result  in  the  words  of  Doctor 
Wheelock,  the  secretary : 

At  a  Meeting  of  the  Board  of  Correspondents  in  the  Colony  of  Connecti- 
cut on  the  1 2th  day  of  March,  A.  D.  1765  at  the  Rev^  M»"  Wheelock's  House 
in  Lebanon — Upon  a  public  and  loud  Clamour  of  the  Rev^^  M''  Samson 
Occom's  Misconduct  in  a  Number  of  Instances  relative  to  the  Separations 
in  and  about  Mohegan,  and  ill  Conduct  towards  the  Overseers  in  the  Affair 
of  leasing  the  Indian  Lands,  and  some  proud  and  haughty  Threatenings  to 
turn  Episcopalian  and  Unsettledness  respecting  the  Constitution  of  our 
Churches  and  Infant  Baptism,  and  disrespectful  Treatment  of  the  Rev'! 
M""  Jewet  and  illegal  proceedings  against  the  School  Master  at  Mohegan, 
and  engaging  in  the  Mason  Cotitroversy  (so  called)  against  the  Government : 
And,  the  Glory  of  God,  M*"  Occom's  Character  and  Usefulness  and  particu- 
larly the  Reputation  of  Indian  Affairs,  requiring  that  these  Reports  should 
be  publicly  looked  into,  that  his  Innocence  or  Guilt  therein  might  thereby 
publickly  appear:  Wherefore,  the  Rev^  M^  Jewet,  at  the  Desire  of  some 
of  this  Board,  exhibited  a  Charge  consisting  of  a  Number  of  Articles 
against  the  said  M""  Occom  which  were  deliberately  heard  with  Evidences 
and  Pleas  on  both  Sides.     And  upon  most  carefully  weighing  the  whole 


MOHEGAN  LAND   CASE   AND  SAMSON  OCCOM      127 

Controversy,  Mr  Occom  was  not  found  guilty  of  any  of  the  charges  laid 
against  him,  excepting  that  of  the  Masofi  Cofitroversy  in  which  he  was 
blamed  only  agreeable  to  the  Tenor  of  what  follows — 

"  Although,  as  a  Member  of  the  Mohegan  Tribe  and,  for  many  years,  one 
of  their  Council,  I  thought  I  had  not  only  a  natural  &  civil  Right  but  that 
it  was  my  Duty  to  acquaint  myself  with  their  temporal  affairs;  Yet  I  am, 
upon  serious  and  close  Reflexion,  convinced,  that  as  there  was  no  absolute 
Necessity  for  it,  it  was  very  imprudent  in  me,  and  offensive  to  the  Public 
that  I  should  so  far  engage  as  of  late  I  have  done,  in  the  Mason  Controversy: 
which  has  injured  my  Ministerial  Character,  hurt  my  Usefulness,  and 
brought  Dishonor  upon  M""  Wheelock's  School  and  the  Correspondents. 
For  this  imprudent,  rash  and  offensive  Conduct  of  mine,  I  am  heartily 
sorry,  and  beg  Forgiveness  of  God — of  this  honorable  Board  of  Corre- 
spondents, of  whom  I  ought  to  have  asked  farther  Advice — and  of  the 
Public;  determining  that  I  will  not  for  the  future  act  in  that  affair,  unless 
called  thereto  and  obliged  by  lawful  Authority." 

This  Submission,  being  offered  to  this  Board,  by  the  Rev'i  Mr  Occom, 
was  accepted.  Moreover  M^  Occom  desired  that  a  copy  of  the  Letter 
which  the  Rev^  M""  Jewet  wrote  to  the  Commissioners  at  Boston  some  time 
last  Fall,  in  which  he  thinks  there  are  several  Things  injurious  to  his 
Character,  might  be  laid  before  the  Board.  Which  being  read  and  con- 
sidered the  Board  are  of  Opinion  that  it  is  M*"  Jewet's  Duty,  in  Justice 
to  M""  Occom's  Character,  to  write  said  Commissioners  of  the  Satisfaction 
which  he  now  professes  to  have  received  from  M""  Occom's  defence  ;  and 
that  a  copy  of  said  Writing  should  be  laid  before  this  Board  at  their  next 
Meeting  for  their  Approbation,  which  M""  Jewet  agreed  to  do^ 

Occom's  conduct  at  this  meeting  was  very  creditable.  It 
won  him  new  esteem  from  his  old  friends.  Doctor  Wheelock 
reported  that  "he  made  a  bold  and  truly  manly  and  Christian 
defence  in  a  spirit  of  meekness,  and  vindicated  his  conduct  to 
have  been  judicious,  prudent  and  becoming  a  Minister  of  the 
Gospel."  The  reverend  company  must  have  been  a  little 
amused  at  the  outcome  of  some  of  the  charges.  Occom 
admitted  frankly  that  he  had  proceeded  against  the  school- 
master. He  urged  that  Clelland's  usefulness  was  evidently  at 
an  end  when  none  of  the  Indians  would  send  their  children  to 
his  school.  On  examination,  it  appeared  that  Mr.  Jewett  enter- 
tained the  same  opinion.       Occom  denied  that  he  had  spoken 

8  Wheelock  Papers,  Doc,  March  12,  1765. 


128  SAMSON  OCCOM 

disrespectfully  of  Mr.  Jewett ;  he  had  only  written  the  school- 
master that  because  Mr.  Jewett  called  him  bad  names  it  was 
no  reason  he  should  do  so.  He  had,  in  fact,  used  these 
words :  "  If  Mr.  Jewet  has  called  me  a  Serpent  I  dont  See 
that  you  have  any  Business  to  call  me  so."  As  to  his  "  proud 
and  haughty  threatenings  to  turn  Episcopalian,"  he  admitted 
that  he  had,  in  jest,  said  he  would  turn  Churchman,  because 
some  of  his  meddling  ministerial  neighbors  were  a  nuisance. 
After  this  manner  all  the  charges  melted  away  except  one. 
That  was  a  serious  matter.  The  company,  as  loyal  ministers 
of  the  colony,  frowned  upon  this  Mohegan  councilor  who  said 
he  had  advised  his  ignorant  brethren  in  their  affairs.  They 
argued  that  he  had  thus  injured  his  ministerial  character,  and 
brought  dishonor  upon  Indian  missions!  He  had  done  that 
which  was  "  offensive  to  the  public !  "  So  Samson  Occom, 
who  was  morbidly  sensitive,  loaded  this  sin  upon  this  honest 
soul,  and  humbly  asked  forgiveness.  We  have  no  doubt  that 
the  Almighty  granted  him  a  full  pardon.  The  correspondents 
did,  and  so  did  the  Colony  of  Connecticut  when  the  case  was 
decided  in  its  favor.  There  was,  professedly,  a  reconciliation 
between  Jewett  and  Occom.  The  former  said  he  was  satisfied, 
and  they  shook  hands.  In  the  ample  fireplace  of  the  minis- 
ter's study  they  burned  up  so  many  valuable  papers  on  the 
case  that  the  doctor  was  afraid  they  would  set  his  house  afire. 
Nevertheless,  l^octor  Wheelock  wrote,  "  I  fear  the  injury  done 
Mr.  Occom's  character  will  not  soon  nor  readily  be  wholly 
undone." 

Mr.  Jewett  went  home.  Weeks  grew  into  months,  and  still 
he  did  not  write  the  commissioners  at  Boston  the  letter  he 
had  promised.  Occom  very  justly  felt  aggrieved.  "I  wonder," 
he  afterwards. wrote,  "  what  ails  that  good,  bad  man."  Finally, 
on  the  twentieth  of  June,  Doctor  Wheelock  wrote  his  white 
brother  a  "  sharp  letter,"  in  which  he  said  :  ''  If  you  have  noth- 
ing against  Mr.  Occom   more  than  you  said  to  us,  I  advise  you 


MO  FI EG  AM  LAND    CASE   AND   SAMSON   OCCOM      129 

to  settle  according  to  your  agreement."  This  brought  out 
from  Mr.  Jewett  the  promised  letter  to  the  commissioners, 
dated  June  26th,  which  was  laid  before  the  correspondents  on 
the  second  of  July,  and  accepted.  So  the  trouble  ended.  It 
was  not  much,  after  all — a  conflagration  kindled  by  a  little  fire. 
At  the  time,  however,  it  created  a  widespread  feeling  against 
Samson  Occom  and  his  Christian  Indians.  The  consequences 
in  his  life  might  have  been  serious,  had  he  not  soon  been 
called  to  make  the  Indian's  plea  in  England.  When  he 
returned,  it  was  with  honor.  The  people  forgot  that  he  had 
ever  been  an  enemy  of  their  Colony,  and  his  old  neighbors 
were  proud  to  own  him. 
10 


CHAPTER  VIII 

THE    INDIAN    PREACHER    IN    ENGLAND 
1765-1768 

The  idea  of  sending  Samson  Occom  to  England  in  behalf 
of  the  Indian  Charity  School  was  first  suggested  by  Rev. 
George  Whitefield.  He  knew  the  times  and  the  cause,  and 
was  well  acquainted  with  the  temper  of  the  English  people. 
So  early  as  1760,  he  wrote:  "Had  I  ,a  converted  Indian 
scholar  that  could  preach  and  pray  in  English,  something 
might  be  done  to  purpose."^  At  that  time,  however,  nothing 
in  a  missionary  way  had  been  accomplished.  The  early 
Oneida  missions  gave  Occom  a  story  to  tell,  and  when  the 
plan  was  actually  in  operation  several  of  Wheelock's  pupils 
were  engaged  in  the  work.  Moreover,  the  wars  of  the  time,  in 
which  the  Indians  were  so  important  a  factor,  made  the  cause 
somewhat  unpopular.  So  matters  stood  until  1764,  when 
Whitefield  visited  New  England.  He  then  had  a  better 
opportunity  of  making  the  acquaintance  of  Occom,  who 
attended  him  on  his  journey  through  part  of  Connecticut, 
riding  one  of  the  horses  of  his  chariot.-  A  new  interest  also 
was  kindled  in  the  mind  of  the  great  evangelist  by  his  meeting 
with  the  Indians  here  and  there,  and  by  his  long  and  earnest 
conversations  with  Doctor  Wheelock  concerning  the  Indian 
school.  Whitefield  was  then  so  certain  of  the  success  of  the 
plan  that  he  proposed  to  take  Occom  to  England  with  him  on 
his  return.  His  later  consideration  of  the  matte;;  led  him  to 
determine  otherwise,  and  doubtless  his  conclusion  was  in  the 
interest   of  a   larger  success.     It  was  thought  better  to  send 

1  McClure's  Mevi.  of  Wheelock^  p.  223. 

2  Larned's  Hist,  of  Windham  County,  II,  39. 

130 


THE  INDIAN  PREACHER   IN  ENGLAND  131 

Occom  in  the  care  of  some  white  minister  who  had  been  asso- 
ciated with  the  school  or  Indian  missions.  Here  difficulties 
and  delays  arose.  An  application  was  made  to  the  New  York 
correspondents  of  the  Scotch  Societ)^  endorsed  by  the  Con- 
necticut board,  March  12,  1765,  for  the  assistance  of  Rev. 
John  Brainerd  in  this  capacity.  It  was  denied.  He  could 
not  be  spared.  At  another  meeting,  held  at  John  Ledyard's, 
in  Hartford,  on  the  loth  of  May,  it  was  voted  to  send  Rev. 
Charles  Jeffrey  Smith.  He  would  have  been  a  good  man, 
but  for  various  reasons  he  declined.  Meanwhile,  Doctor 
Wheelock,  with  Occoni  and  Rev.  Nathaniel  Whitaker,  pastor 
of  the  church  at  Chelsea  in  Norwich,^  went  eastward  on  a 
soliciting  tour.  They  visited  Boston,  Salem,  Ipswich,  Rowley, 
Newbury,  Exeter,  Portsmouth  and  other  places.  They  also 
appeared  before  the  New  Hampshire  legislature.  About 
;^3oo  sterling  were  collected.  Mr.  Whitaker  had  been  on  a 
similar  journey  the  year  before,  and  had  met  with  some  suc- 
cess. It  then  became  more  than  ever  evident  to  Doctor 
Wheelock  that  the  presence  of  the  Indian  preacher  was  calcu- 
lated to  convince  an  audience  of  the  usefulness  of  his  enter- 
prise. He  determined  to  send  Occom  to  England,  at  once, 
with  some  one.  He  would  like  to  have  gone  himself,  but  he 
could  not  leave  in  a  year  so  critical.  Finally  the  Connecticut 
correspondents,  at  a  meeting  held  July  third,  voted  to  commit 
the  mission  to  Mr.  Whitaker. 

Preparations  were  immediately  begun  for  their  departure. 
^'A  Continuation  of  the  Narrative  "  was  prepared  and  printed 

2  Nathaniel  Whitaker  was  born  Feb.  22,  1732,  on  Long  Island.  After  his  gradua- 
tion from  Princeton  College  in  1752,  he  studied  theology,  and  until  1759  was  pastor 
of  the  Presbyterian  church  at  Woodbridge,  N.  J.  He  was  installed  at  Norwich, 
Feb.  25,  1761,  and  on  account  of  some  difficulties  attending  his  ministry  there  he  was 
dismissed  in  1769,  shortly  after  his  return  from  England.  From  1769  to  1784,  he  was 
pastor  of  the  Tabernacle  church  in  Salem.  Mass.,  from  1784  to  1790,  he  ministered  at 
Skowhegan,  Maine,  and  he  was  subsequently  at  Taunton,  Mass.  He  died,  Jan.  21, 
1795,  in  Virginia. — Q,\vA.'i€'%  Hist,  of  Dart.  Coll. ^■^.  60;  Caulkins' //z\f/.  of  Norwich y 
pp.  460-465. 


132  SAMSON  OCCOM 

at  Boston.  Occom  was  sent  to  Sir  William  Johnson  to  secure 
his  written  endorsement.  Mr.  Whitaker  went  to  Smithtown,  L.  I., 
where  the  Suffolk  Presbytery  met  on  the  twenty-first  of  August, 
to  obtain  from  them  a  recommendation  for  Occom.  Appar- 
ently they  did  not  approve  of  the  plan.  It  doubtless  seemed 
absurd,  as  it  did  to  many.  They  could  not  see  their  way  clear 
to  give  him  a  recommendation,  as  he  was  to  be  sent  under  the 
auspices  of  another  body ;  but  they  agreed  to  give  him  a  dis- 
mission and  testimonials  if  he  wished  to  sever  his  connection 
with  them.  This  Occom  did  not  care  to  do.  At  a  later 
meeting,  October  30,  1765,  they  voted  to  recommend  him  "as 
one  they  ordained  with  special  relation  to  the  Indians  and  cer- 
tify that  he  is  of  good  moral  life  and  of  good  standing."  At 
the  same  time  they  gave  their  consent  to  his  employment 
under  the  Connecticut  Board  of  Correspondents.  This  cleared 
the  way  so  far  as  Occom  was  concerned. 

Mr.  Whittaker  also  went  southward  as  far  as  Philadelphia 
and  later  to  the  eastward  to  secure  testimonials.  To  a  letter^ 
which  had  been  prepared  by  Doctor  Wheelock,  he  obtained  the 
signatures  of  sixty-nine  gentlemen  prominent  in  Church  and 
State  in  New  York,  New  Jersey,  Pennsylvania  and  New  Hamp- 
shire. Three  ministers  of  the  Church  of  England  signed  this 
testimonial — Samuel  Seabury,  afterwards  the  first  bishop  of 
Connecticut,  Thomas  B.  Chandler,  and  Jacob  Duche.  There 
was  only  one  Massachusetts  name  in  the  list,  though  probably 
some  would  have  signed  had  they  been  asked.  The  reason 
will  presently  appear.  Governor  Fitch  of  Connecticut  also 
granted  his  endorsement,  warmly  commending  the  purpose  of 
the  Indian  Charity  School. 

The  ministers  of  eastern  Connecticut  added  their  testimony, 
among  them  being  Rev.  Matthew  Graves,  missionary  of  the 
Episcopal  Church  at  New  London.  This  minister  was  especially 
interested  in  Samson  Occom,  and  they  were  on  most  friendly 
terms.     In   a  letter  of  commendation  which  he  then  gave  he 


THE   INDIAN  PREACHER   IN  ENGLAND  1 33 

speaks  thus  of  his  Indian  brother  :  "  He  has  shewed  himself  a 
Pattern  of  good  Works,  of  blameless  Conversation,  a  Lover  of 
good  Men,  sober,  just,  holy,  temperate,  gentle  to  all,  commend- 
ing himself  to  every  Man's  Conscience  in  the  Sight  of  God. 
He  is  of  a  most  catholic  Spirit,  prudent  and  exem- 
plary in  his  Behaviour.  The  Dissenting  Ministers,  to  my 
Knowledge,  allow  him  in  his  Clerical  Capacity  to  be  a  Person  ^ 
justly  deserving  their  greatest  Esteem.  And  I  faithfully  be- 
lieve there  are  few  of  greater  Credit  to  their  Function."  This 
was  the  clergyman  in  whose  presence  the  Indian  had  in  jest 
said  he  would  turn  Episcopalian.  He  really  seems  to  have  had 
some  hope  of  Occom,  as  he^wrote  him  after  he  had  reached 
England  expressing  the  wish  that  his  Indian  friend  would 
^' come  home  with  Episcopal  ordination."  We  conjecture  also 
that  he  wrote  to  some  church  dignitary  in  a  similar  strain, 
which  gave  rise  to  the  overtures  Occom  received  from  that 
quarter. 

Evidently  Whitaker  and  Occom  had  testimonials  enough  to 
command  the  attention  of  all  England.  Robert  Keen  afterwards 
wrote  that  "  Whitaker's  recommendation  looked  like  Ezekiel's 
scroll,  full  on  both  sides  from  one  end  to  the  other."  They 
were  all  published  in  "A  Brief  Narrative  of  the  Indian  Charity 
School,"  issued  after  their  arrival  in  England,  and  printed  in 
London  in  1766,  of  which  a  second  edition,  with  an  Appendix, 
was  printed  the  year  following.  Whitefield  is  believed  to  have 
written  the  introduction  to  this  narrative,  and  Whitaker  to  have 
edited  it.  Copies  were  distributed  throughout  the  kingdom, 
and  thus  a  complete  and  interesting  statement  of  the  work 
was  made.  Doctor  Wheelock's  "  Memorial  to  the  People  of 
God  in  England,  Scotland  and  Ireland,"  which  it  contained,  was 
itself  a  most  winsome  plea. 

The  commissioners  of  the  "  Society  for  Propagating  the 
Gospel "  at  Boston  were  earnestly  opposed  to  this  venture. 
Among  them  were  some  who  had  long  been  unfriendly  to  Doc- 


134  SAMSON  OCCOM 

tor  Wheelock's  plan  of  conducting  missions.  His  education 
of  Indian  youth  was  one  thing,  which  they  had  to  a  limited 
extent  approved  ;  but  the  sending  out  of  missionaries  on  his 
personal  responsibility  was  quite  another.  Even  the  forma- 
tion of  the  Connecticut  Board  of  Correspondents  had  not 
wholly  satisfied  their  objections.-  Probably  they  thought  also 
that  such  a  mission  to  England  would  throw  their  substantial 
work  into  the  shadow  and  injure  their  prestige  in  the  mother 
country.  It  would  be  likely  to  divert  contributions  of  which  they 
were  in  need.  How  general  such  a  sentiment  was  we  do  not 
know.  This,  however,  was  the  reason  why  no  effort  was  made 
to  secure  testimonials  in  Massachusetts.  Indeed,  the  scheme 
was  well  under  way  before  the  commissioners  were  aware  of  it. 
As  it  finally  came  to  them,  Occom  was  to  be  sent  over  as  an 
Indian  who  had  been  converted  from  heathenism  and  particu- 
larly as  the  fruit  of  Dr.  Wheelock's  work.  To  this  they  very 
properly  objected,  for  they  had  long  supported  a  school  at 
Mohegan  and  had  maintained  Occom  while  he  was  being  edu- 
cated. Some  credit,  they  thought,  was  due  to  their  society. 
This  Indian  preacher  is  often  spoken  of  at  the  present  time  as 
one  who  was  educated  at  the  Indian  Charity  School,  whereas 
he  was  the  means  of  its  establishment.  At  all  events  the  com- 
missioners wrote  a  letter  to  Jasper  Mauduit,  governor  of  the  com- 
pany in  England,  dated  October  2,  1765,  which  was  decidedly 
prejudicial  to  Occom's  mission.  They  asserted  that  the  Indian 
preacher  had  been  brought  up  in  the  midst  of  Christian  influ- 
ences in  their  school,  and  that  he  had  not  been  converted  from 
heathenism  at  all.  The  inference  from  this  statement  was 
untrue.  They  had  indeed  supported  a  school  at  Mohegan  ; 
but  Occom's  conversion  and  education  were  in  no  way  due  to 
it.  Doctor  Wheelock  was  greatly  distressed  over  this  letter 
when  he  heard  of  it.  The  commissioners'  records  show  that  it 
was  read  to  him  and  he  replied  to  it,  but  this  was  after  his 
emissaries  had  departed  and  their  success  was  assured.     The 


THE  INDIAN  PREACHER   IN  ENGLAND  I  35 

commissioners,  moreover,  made  their  disapproval  known  round 
about.  It  came  thus  to  the  ears  of  the  Connecticut  corres- 
pondents, so  that  Whitaker  and  Occom  went  to  England  fore- 
warned in  the  matter.  On  their  arrival  in  Boston,  as  they  were 
about  to  sail,  they  met  the  commissioners  and  endeavored  to 
adjust  the  trouble,  but  they  failed.  We  are  indebted  to  this 
attack  on  Occom  for  a  statement  of  facts  concerning  his  early 
life  which  he  drew  up  at  Boston  on  the  28th  of  November.  He 
intended  later  to  amplify  this  into  an  autobiography — a  pur- 
pose which  he  unfortunately  never  carried  out.  He  wrote  thus 
to  Doctor  Wheelock,  December  6th  :  "  The  Honorable  Com- 
missioners here  are  still  very  strong  in  their  opposition  to  your 
Scheme.  They  think  it  is  nothing  but  a  Shame  to  send  me  over 
the  great  Water.  They  say  it  is  to  impose  upon  the  good  Peo- 
ple. They  further  affirm  I  was  bro't  up  Regularly  and  a  Chris- 
tian all  my  Days.  Some  say  I  cant  Talk  Indian.  Others  say 
I  cant  read.  In  short  I  believe  the  old  Devil  is  in  Boston  to 
oppose  our  Design,  but  I  am  in  hopes  he  is  almost  superan- 
nuated, or  in  a  Delireum.  ...  I  have  a  struggle  in  my 
mind  at  times,  knowing  not  where  I  am  going.  I  dont  know 
but  I  am  looking  for  a  spot  of  ground  where  my  bones  must  be 
buried  and  never  see  my  poor  Family  again,  but  I  verily  believe 
I  am  called  of  God  by  [a]  strange  Providence  and  that  is 
enough.""^  This  opposition  increased  the  discouragement  of 
the  good  man  at  Lebanon  who  carried  the  burdens.  He  was 
not  very  sanguine  of  success  himself,  and  the  unkind  words, 
amounting  even  to  ridicule,  which  were  heaped  upon  him  still 
further  depressed  him.  In  a  letter  to  Whitefield,  he  wrote  : 
"  I  am  concerned  for  Mr.  Occom.  He  has  done  well  and  been 
useful  as  a  missionary  among  his  Savage  Brethren,  but  what 
a  figure  he  will  make  in  London  I  cant  tell."^  Some  of  his 
friends  were  more  confident.   Rev.  Charles  Jeffrey  Smith  said  : 

"Wheelock  Papers,  Lett.  Dec.  6,  1765. 
=  Ibid.,  Lett.  Nov.  11,  1765. 


136  SAA/SO.V  OCCOM 

"  An  Indian  minister  in  England  might  get  a  Bushel  of  money 
for  the  School.''  The  doctor  would  have  been  satisfied  with 
a  few  handfuls.  Mr.  John  Smith,  the  Boston  merchant  and 
old  friend  of  the  school,  was  then  in  London.  He  heard  there 
of  an  attempt  by  another  society  to  anticipate  Occom  with  a 
converted  Indian,  who  is  said  to  have  been  sent  over  and  to 
have  been  ordained  in  the  Episcopal  order  at  Bristol.  There- 
upon he  wrote  urging  haste  in  the  following  words :  "  He  must 
not  stay  to  put  on  his  wigg  but  come  in  his  night  cap.  All 
that's  wanted  is  to  have  Mr.  Occom  here.  He  is  expected  & 
waited  for  by  many.  I  know  an  influential  nobleman  that  ex- 
pects him  and  has  asked  me  after  him."^  So  the  plan  was 
finally  to  be  put  to  a  test. 

On  the  2ist  of  November,  1765,  Occom  set  out  from  Mohe- 
gan  for  Boston,  having  reverently  committed  his  family  to  the 
care  of  Almighty  God.  He  reached  there  on  the  twenty-third, 
and  on  the  twenty-seventh  Mr.  Whitaker  returned  from  a  jour- 
ney to  Portsmouth,  having  collected  almost  enough  money  to 
pay  their  expenses.  After  a  delay  of  several  weeks  waiting  for 
a  ship,  they  finally  embarked  on  the  packet  Boston,  John  Mar- 
shall, master,  on  the  twenty-third  of  December.  The  price  of 
their  ocean  passage  was  twenty  guineas,  and  among  the  many 
good  works  of  that  worthy  patriot,  John  Hancock,  who  was 
part  owner  in  the  ship,  was  his  contribution  of  his  share,  be- 
ing one  fourth.'^ 

The  Indian  preacher  who  had  thus  gone  to  storm  the  Chris- 
tian people  of  England,  was  no  ordinary  man  for  such  a  work. 
It  is  confessed  that  he  had  some  attainments  as  a  preacher. 
President  Dwight,  who  heard  him  twice,  says :  "  His  dis- 
courses, though  not  proofs  of  superior  talents,  weie  decent, 
and  his  utterance  in  some  degree  eloquent."  It  would  be  a 
mistake  to  infer  from  this  opinion  that  Occom  was  quite  like 

^Wheelock  Papers^  Lett,  Sept.  ii,  1765. 

"^  Ibid.,  John  Marshall's  Receipt,  Feb.  25,  1766. 


THE  INDIAN  PREACHER   IN  ENGLAND  1 37 

the  average  English  minister  of  his  day.  He  was  neither  a 
logician  nor  a  theologian.  His  sermons  were  always  simple. 
They  had,  however,  the  indescribable  scent  of  the  forest  in 
them.  He  could  of  course  speak  best  in  his  native  tongue, 
not  only  because  he  could  better  command  the  language,  but 
also  because  of  his  familiarity  with  the  figures  of  speech  so 
popular  in  all  Indian  oratory.  One  who  knew  him  well  said 
he  was  "  vastly  more  natural  and  free,  clear  and  eloquent" 
when  addressing  the  Indians.  But  this  habit  of  figurative  ex- 
pression passed  over  into  his  English  speech.  He  had  many 
apt  illustrations  of  his  points,  some  of  which  have  survived 
and  are  sometimes  heard  in  this  distant  day.  One  can  easily 
imagine  how  this  characteristic  would  charm  an  English  audi- 
ence. He  made  thus  a  clear  and  close  application  of  the  truth 
which  impressed  his  hearers.  His  mission  also  afforded  him 
an  opportunity  of  extemporaneous  preaching,  in  which  he  ap- 
peared to  the  best  advantage.  The  few  surviving  manuscripts 
of  his  sermons  are  those  of  his  early  life.  Later  he  rarely 
wrote  and  never  read  from  his  notes.  He  had  no  need  of  the 
variety  of  a  settled  ministry,  and,  going  from  place  to  place,  he 
doubtless  often  repeated  the  substance  of  his  sermons.  So  it 
was  in  England.  He  had  substantially  the  same  story  to  tell 
everywhere.  This  he  had  soon  mastered  and  could  deliver 
with  interest  and  effect.  He  seems  also  to  have  come  under 
the  influence  of  Whitefield's  fervor.  After  his  return  from 
England  this  impression  remained.  It  contributed  largely  to 
his  success  as  an  evangelist,  which  indeed  he  was.  In  truth, 
this  Indian  preacher  was  no  novice.  He  had  been  already  be- 
fore large  audiences  in  Boston  and  New  York.  Yet,  of  course,  the 
secret  of  his  power  was  in  the  fact  that  he  was  himself  the  em- 
bodiment of  his  cause — a  native  Indian  of  no  mean  tribe,  who 
had  risen  to  the  highest  station  of  any  Indian  preacher  in  the 
century.  He  was  in  earnest,  and  never  once  did  he  forget 
the    main   object  of    his  long  journey.     Withal,  his  manners 


138  SAMSON  OCCOM 

were  such  as  intercourse  with  some  of  the  best  New  England 
families  could  cultivate,  for  he  had  been  often  a  welcome  guest 
in  their  homes.  Calm,  dignified  and  self-possessed,  as  many 
an  Indian  chief  was  wont  to  be,  he  exhibited  those  qualities 
which  were  esteemed  in  a  minister  of  that  day.  Surely  he  was 
as  well  equipped  for  his  mission  as  any  Indian  could  hope 
to  be. 

The  voyagers  sighted  land  on  the  second  of  F'ebruary 
and  the  next  day  they  were  taken  ashore  in  a  fishing 
boat  at  Brixham,  about  two  hundred  miles  from  London. 
On  horseback  they  went  to  Exeter,  thence  by  night  coach  to 
Salisbury,  and  on  the  sixth  instant  they  arrived  safely  at  the 
house  of  Mr.  Dennys  DeBerdt  in  London,  where  they  lodged. 
Their  host  had  been  for  years  a  warm  friend  of  their  cause, 
and  he  was  a  gentleman  of  some  means  and  influence.  Mr. 
John  Smith  of  Boston  was  also  awaiting  them.  He  had  writ- 
ten that  "  Occom  on  coming  should  shut  himself  up  in  a  coach 
and  come  directly  to  Mr.  Whitefield's  in  London."  In  ac- 
cordance with  this  plan,  shrewdly  devised  by  Whitefield  him- 
self, that  they  might  be  properly  launched  in  their  mission,  the 
visitors  were  conducted  the  next  morning  by  Mr.  Smith  to  the 
minister's  home.  There  they  remained  two  weeks.  After  a 
few  days  in  retirement,  during  which  we  may  be  sure  their 
host  was  quietly  preparing  the  way  for  their  introduction  to 
London  society,  they  were  carried  by  Whitefield  to  be  pre- 
sented to  the  Earl  of  Dartmouth,  whom  Whitefield  called  the 
"  Daniel  of  his  age."  So  well  is  this  nobleman  known  in  his- 
tory that  we  need  give  no  account  of  him.  He  was  without  a 
doubt  the  main  pillar  of  the  enterprise,  and  his  honored  name 
deserves  to  be  kept  in  remembrance  in  the  American  college 
which  bears  it.  Surely  if  he  had  then  opposed  we  should  have 
heard  little  more  of  the  Indian  Charity  School.  Occom  only 
says  of  the  visit  to  him  in  his  diary:  "He  appeared  like  a 
worthy  Lord  indeed."     We  learn  from   other   sources  that  he 


THE  INDIAN  PREACHER  IN  ENGLAND  1 39 

was  the  nobleman  who  had  anticipated  Occom's  coming  and 
that  he  gave  him  a  cordial  reception.  Then  they  were  taken 
to  pay  their  respects  to  the  aged  and  noble  Lady  Hotham,  the 
wife  of  Sir  Charles  Hotham,  who  became  a  trustee  of  the  fund 
and  died  before  Occom's  return.  After  several  days  they  had 
met  most  of  the  "  religious  nobility  "  and  many  of  the  distin- 
guished ministers  of  London. 

The  time  had  now  come  for  the  Indian  preacher's  debut.  It 
was  on  the  sixteenth  of  February,  in  Whitefield's  tabernacle.  At 
the  appointed  hour  of  service  the  edifice  was  thronged.  Many 
of  the  nobility  were  present,  and  indeed  out  of  a  genuine  inter- 
est in  the  occasion.  England  had  heard  a  great  deal  about 
the  North  American  Indians,  especially  during  the  recent 
wars  ;  but  one  had  never  been  heard  before  in  the  pulpit.  We 
can  imagine  the  interest  and  stillness  of  the  congregation  as 
the  stalwart  figure  of  the  Mohegan  appeared  before  them.  He 
was  then  forty-three  years  of  age.  His  face,  while  distinctly 
that  of  an  Indian,  had  a  nobility  of  expression  which  some 
must  have  remarked  on  then,  as  many  do  who  now  gaze  upon 
his  picture.  His  flowing  locks  reached  almost  to  his  shoul- 
ders. In  attire  he  was  becomingly  clad  in  ministerial  black, 
with  vest  of  colonial  cut  and  knee  breeches.  Alas  !  we  do 
not  know  where  his  text  was,  or  if  he  had  one.  He  himself 
only  iioted  the  "  great  multitude."  Whitefield  wrote  that  he 
preached  with  "acceptance."  The  indications  are,  however, 
that  he  made  a  decided  and  very  favorable  impression.  From 
that  time,  at  least,  his  success  was  assured,  and  so  his  friends 
wrote  to  Doctor  Wheelock,  awaiting  the  result  with  anxiety  in 
his  home  on  a  Connecticut  hilltop. 

Whitefield  saw  that  a  movement,  which  he  hoped  would 
appeal  to  all  denominations  and  sects,  would  do  better  if  it 
preserved  an  attitude  of  independence.  He  arranged  there- 
fore that  Occom  should  '-go  round  the  other  denominations 
in   a    proper    rotation."     He    also  engaged   for  Whitaker  and 


140  SAMSON  OCCOM 

Occom  private  lodgings,  at  the  end  of  two  weeks,  where  they 
were  accessible  to  all.  A  servant  was  hired  for  them,  whose 
name  may  have  been  Mary  Joyner,  and  soon  they  were  estab- 
lished in  comfort.  It  was  necessary  that  Occom  should  be  in- 
oculated as  a  protection  against  the  smallpox,  before  he 
traveled  much  abroad.  This  was  done  at  the  hands  of  his 
companion,  Mr.  Whitaker,  on  the  nth  of  March,  on  which 
day  the  Indian  wrote  to  his  wife  of  the  fact  and  said,  "  You 
will  soon  hear  whether  I  am  well  of  it  or  dead  of  it."  He  got 
well  of  it,  and  probably  did  not  find  it  a  very  unpleasant  expe- 
rience, as  he  was  attended  by  servants,  had  two  of  the  best 
physicians  in  London  to  treat  him,  and  was  visited  daily  by 
gentlemen  and  ladies  whose  acquaintance  he  had  made.  Those 
days  of  convalescence  had  many  pleasures  to  which  he  had 
not  been  accustomed.  He  became  popular  from  the  first — a 
center  of  religious  interest.  While  he  was  thus  entertained, 
his  companion  was  about  seeing  the  sights  of  the  metropolis 
and  preparing  the  way  for  Occom's  appearance  in  the  churches. 
He  saw  the  king  when  he  went  to  the  Houses  of  Parliament, 
*' amid  shouts  and  acclamations  of  a  joyful  people,"  in  order 
to  sign  the  bill  for  repealing  the  Stamp  Act.  He  interested 
further  the  Earl  of  Dartmouth,  through  whom  "the  w^ay  to  the 
throne "  he  wrote  "  is  very  short."  He  arranged  to  have 
Occom  meet  His  Majesty  as  soon  as  he  recovered.  This  he 
did,  and  the  king  contributed  ^200  to  the  cause.  It  is  said 
also  that  he  preached  later  before  the  king  in  one  of  his  chap- 
els, and  we  think  he  did,  though  the  date  and  place  are  un- 
known to  us. 

It  is  unnecessary  to  follow  the  Indian  preacher,  on  his 
recovery,  from  church  to  church.  As  he  became  accustomed 
to  the  situation  he  improved.  Large  congregations  were 
gathered,  and  generous  collections  were  taken  up.  As  a 
novelty  he  had  an  advantage.  With  true  Indian  sagacity  he 
saw   this,   and    made   up   his    mind   to  use   the    sensation    he 


THE   INDIAN  PREACHER  IN  ENGLAND  I4I 

caused  to  gather  contributions  for  the  Indian  school.  He  was 
lionized  everywhere,  but  we  have  testimony  to  his  modesty  in 
enduring  it.  In  a  short  time  he  had  become  such  a  conspicu- 
ous and  distinguished  character  in  London  that  the  players  in 
the  theaters  made  him  an  object  of  their  mimicry.  This  was 
much  to  his  advantage,  no  doubt,  in  advertising  him.  It  did 
not  trouble  him  in  the  least ;  he  only  wrote,  "  I  little  thought 
I  should  ever  come  to  that  honor."  Soon  they  were  flooded 
with  invitations.  They  dined  with  the  Earl  of  Dartmouth, 
where  others  of  the  nobility  were  present  as  guests,  with  Sir 
Charles  Hotham  and  with  many  of  the  most  celebrated  divines 
in  the  city.  No  doubt  the  Indian  enjoyed  this.  He  had 
many  a  time  had  the  hard  fare  of  the  wilderness  or  gone 
hungry.  Still,  his  attention  was  not  diverted  from  the  main 
purpose  of  his  visit.  In  this  society  of  ladies  and  gentlemen 
who  were  accustomed  to  sit  before  kings,  he  conducted  him- 
self with  the  manners  of  the  white  man,  as  though  he  had 
never  lived  in  a  wigwam  of  bark.  The  soft  tones  of  his  voice 
were  said  to  be  remarkably  pleasing  in  conversation.  At  that 
time  there  was  unusual  interest  in  the  study  of  Indian  life. 
The  Earl  of  Dartmouth  was  a  student  of  such  matters.  At 
his  desire  Doctor  Wheelock  sent  him  some  Indian  curiosities 
which  David  Fowler  gathered  among  the  Indians — "a  stone 
pipe  covered  with  porcupine  quills,  a  burden  band  to  bind 
loads  to  the  back,  a  thong  of  elm  bark  with  which  captives 
were  tied,  a  tobacco  pouch,  a  knife  case,  and  shoes  and 
garters."  No  one  could  better  entertain  a  company  at  dinner 
with  conversation  on  Indian  customs  and  stories  of  adventure 
in  the  wilderness  than  Occom.  If  he  spoke  as  he  sometimes 
wrote  there  was  a  dry  humor  in  his  sayings,  at  which  he  never 
laughed  himself,  but  which  must  have  amused  his  listeners. 
One  of  the  most  remarkable  things  we  know  of  his  conduct 
was  that,  having  such  an  opportunity,  with  his  tribal  land-con- 
troversy on  hand  and  Mason  then   in  London   in  its  interests, 


142  SAMSON  OCCOM 

he  held  strictly  to  his  pledge  and  did  not  meddle  in  the  matter. 
This  was  certainly  an  indication  of  a  strong  character.  His 
companion  wrote  home  in  triumph  that  Occom  had  not  said  a 
word  on  the  Mason  case.  "  I  can  assure  the  folks  of  Con- 
necticut," he  said,  "  that  Mr.  Occom  is  full  as  peaceable  as 
any  of  them." 

It  was  necessary,  of  course,  that  the  Indian  preacher  should 
see  the  historic  places  in  London.  He  was  attended  hither 
and  thither  by  friends,  and  was  greatly  interested  in  the 
Houses  of  Parliament,  Westminster  Bridge,  the  Abbey  and 
the  Tower.  Yet  these  sights  only  brought  more  vividly  before 
him  the  contrast  between  such  magnificence  and  his  poor, 
ignorant  people  across  the  sea.  He  was  not  carried  away  by 
the  most  gorgeous  spectacle.  They  took  him  to  the  royal 
robing-room,  and  he  saw  the  king,  George  III,  arrayed  for 
Parliament,  and  watched  him  as  he  put  on  a  diamond-studded 
crown  ;  but  the  sight  only  led  him  to  make  in  his  diary  some 
disparaging  comparisons  between  the  earthly  robe  and  crown 
and  the  heavenly.  He  witnessed  the  festival  of  the  queen's 
birthday,  but  when  he  saw  the  attire  of  the  nobles  and  thought 
of  his  naked  brethren  he  said  it  reminded  him  of  Dives  and 
Lazarus.  In  fact,  it  appears  that  some  who  had  been  inclined 
to  regard  him  as  a  visiting  savage  from  abroad,  found  out, 
after  a  little,  that  he  was  not  so  verdant  as  they  had  thought. 
As  religious  people  came  to  know  him,  they  valued  more  and 
more  the  real  spiritual  earnestness  of  his  character. 

Among  the  notable  personages  of  the  time  whom  Occom 
met  were  some  who  had  a  great  influence  over  him.  One  of 
these  was  Selina,  the  Countess  of  Huntingdon,  to  whom  he 
was  presented  by  Whitefield.  He  wrote  of  her  in  his  diary, 
"  She  is  the  most  Heavenly  woman  I  believe  in  the  world." 
Her  heart  had  long  been  engaged  in  the  Indian  school.  The 
two  had  frequent  meetings.  She  hospitably  entertained  him 
at  her  country-seat  and  is  said  to  have  regarded  him  as  "one 


THE   INDIAN  PREACHER   IN  ENGLAND  1 43 

of  the  most  interesting  and  extraordinary  characters  of  her 
time."  ^  He  made  a  firm  friend  in  John  Thornton,  Esq.,  of 
Clapham,  a  most  religious  and  benevolent  gentleman.^  To 
this  man,  who  in  large  measure  maintained  Occom  afterwards 
in  his  missionary  labors,  his  later  usefulness  was  due.  Another 
noted  person  with  whom  the  Indian  formed  an  acquaintance 
was  Rev.  John  Newton  of  Olney,  who  invited  him  to  his  home. 
He  also  met  and  preached  for  the  following  ministers  :  Martin 
Madan,  John  Conder,  Samuel  Stennett,  Andrew  Gifford, 
Thomas  Gibbons,  Samuel  Brewer,  William  Romaine  and 
Samuel  Chandler.  Indeed,  there  was  scarcely  a  distinguished 
divine  in  England  whom  he  did  not  meet  during  his  stay. 

As  might  have  been  expected  from  his  friendship  with 
Whitefield,  the  conservative  wing  of  the  Church  of  England 
did  not  grant  their  hearty  support  to  the  movement.  At  first 
they  seemed  to  do  so.  Whitaker  and  Occom  waited  on  the 
Archbishop  of  Canterbury,  who  "appeared  quite  agreeable 
and  friendly"  to  the  Indian,  and  to  Whitaker  expressed  his 
approval  of  the  plan.^^  The  Archbishop  of  York  also  declared 
his  interest  in  the  cause.  Soon,  however, .  these  churchmen 
altered  their  minds,  and  finally  they  opposed  the  mission. 
It  is  said  that  the  established  churches  were  publicly  advised 
not  to  contribute.     Whitaker  attributed  this  to  misrepresenta- 

^  Life  and  Times  vf  Selina,  Countess  of  Huntingdon,  London,  1S40,  I,  411. 

'■•John  Thornton  was  the  son  of  Robert  Thornton,  a  London  merchant,  and  was 
born  at  Clapham,  April  i,  1720.  He  also  became  a  merchant  and  acquired  large 
wealth,  which  he  so  generously  devoted  to  benevolence  that  he  was  esteemed  as  one 
of  the  philanthropists  of  his  time.  His  religious  affiliations  were  with  the  "  Clapham 
Sect,"  but  he  maintained  friendly  relations  with  all  Christians.  He  died  at  Bath, 
Nov.  7,  1790. — Chase's  Hist,  of  Dart.  Coll. 

10 "  We  waited  on  his  Grace  of  Canterbury  some  days  since,  introduced  by  Dr. 
Chandler  (who  died  last  Thursday).  His  Lordship  told  us  that  they  had  tried  to 
procure  Indian  youth  to  educate  &  never  could — that  [it  was]  his  opinion  that  their 
Society  should  send  some  youth  to  your  [School]  &  support  them,  if  you  would  take 
them,  who,  when  fitted  should  [be  in]  their  imploy  &  that  he  would  lay  it  before  the 
Bishops.  He  says  he  greatly  approves  the  Scheme  &  so  says  his  Grace  of  York  (on 
whom  we  waited  the  next  day)." — Whitaker  Papers,  Dart.  Coll.,  Lett,  to  Wheelock, 
May  14,  1766. 


144  SAMSON  OCCOM 

tions  from  America,  and  it  might  have  been  in  part  due  to  the 
letter  of  the  Boston  commissioners.  It  was  during  the  earlier 
period  that  William  Warburton,  Bishop  of  Gloucester,  ex- 
pressed to  Occom  the  hope  that  he  would  see  his  way  to 
"  Holier  Orders  "  ;  but  the  Indian  blandly  answered,  ''  I  had 
no  such  view  when  I  came  from  home."  This  noted  divine  is 
said  to  have  taunted  Mr.  Whitaker  unmercifully  for  being  a 
Presbyterian.  Probably  he  was  the  one  who  made  the  over- 
tures of  Episcopal  ordination  and  dignities  to  Occom. ^^  Not- 
withstanding this  opposition  among  ruling  authorities,  many  of 
the  Episcopal  churches  did  contribute  to  the  cause,  as  well  as 
ministers  and  laymen  among  them.  Occom  did  not  suffer  him- 
self to  be  disturbed  by  his  treatment.  He  had  honestly  no 
desire  for  honors  ;  he  wanted  money  for  the  education  of  In- 
dians. Liberality  of  views  in  ecclesiastical  matters  w^as  always 
characteristic  of  him.  He  expressed  a  willingness  to  fellowship 
all  Christian  sects,  and  he  uniformly  did  so  throughout  his  life. 
This  sentiment  augmented  his  success  in  England.  He  knew 
the  differences  between  the  denominations,  but  he  never 
uttered  a  word  which  made  a  personal  enemy  of  Independent 
or  Episcopalian,  Baptist,  Quaker  or  Methodist.  This  was  no 
easy  task,  for  he  was  warned  by  each  against  the  other.  Even 
Dr.  Chandler  advised  him  ''not  to  own  Mr.  Whitefield  as  a 
friend  either  to  Dissenters  or  to  the  old  standards  of  the 
Church  of  England.'*  Such  words  did  not  seem  to  prejudice 
him.  Still,  he  never  forgot  the  treatment  he  received  from 
some  of  the  bishops  in  England.  When  he  was  safely  at 
home  among  the  hills  of  Mohegan  he  uttered  his  mind  after 
this  fashion  : 

1'  "  We  are  informed  that  the  Rev.  Mr.  Occum,  during  liis  residence  in  England, 
had  the  offer  of  a  Gown  and  with  some  considerable  lucrative  offer,  which  he  re- 
fused." [New  Lotidon  Gazeife,  June  3,  1768.]  Occom  wrote  Mr.  Green,  the  pub- 
lisher of  this  newspaper,  April  17,  1769,  that  he  received  an  offer  of  Episcopal  ordi- 
nation soon  after  he  reached  London  and  that  his  refusal  highly  displeased  the 
bishops.     This  was  probably  the  sequel  of  Rev.  Matthew  Graves'  sanguine  hopes. 


THE  INDIAN  PREACHER   IN  ENGLAND 


145 


Now  I  am  in  my  own  country,  I  may  freely  inform  you  of  what  I  honestly 
and  soberly  think  of  the  Bishops,  Lord  Bishops,  and  Archbishops  of  Eng- 
land. In  my  view,  they  don't  look  like  Gospel  Bishops  or  ministers  of 
XI!hrist.  I  can't  find  them  in  the  Bible.  I  think  they  a  good  deal  resemble 
the  Anti-christian  Popes.  I  find  the  Gospel  Bishops  resemble,  in  some 
good  measure  their  good  Master;  and  they  follow  him  in  the  example  he 
has  left  them.  They  discover  meekness  and  humility;  are  gentle  and  kind 
unto  all  men — ready  to  do  good  unto  all — they  are  compassionate  and  mer- 
ciful unto  the  miserable,  and  charitable  to  the  poor.  But  I  did  not  find  the 
Bishops  of  England  so.  Upon  my  word,  if  I  never  spoke  the  truth  before 
I  do  now.  I  waited  on  a  number  of  Bishops,  and  represented  to  them  the 
miserable  and  wretched  situation  of  the  poor  Indians,  who  are  perishing 
for  lack  of  spiritual  knowledge,  and  begged  their  assistance  in  evangelizing 
these  poor  1-heathen.  IJut  if  you  can  believe  me,  they  never  gave  us  one 
single  brass  farthing.  It  seems  to  me  that  they  are  very  indifferent  whether 
the  poor  Indians  go  to  Heaven  or  Hell.  I  can't  help  my  thoughts:  and  I 
am  apt  to  think  they  don't  want  the  Indians  to  go  to  Heaven  with  them.i- 

Whitaker  and  Occom  were  occupied  in  the  canvass  of  Lon- 
don and  vicinity  until  the  last  of  July.  Then  they  made  a 
tour  through  the  west  of  England,  which  engaged  them  about 
four  months.  After  this  they  were  in  and  about  London  and 
in  the  eastern  counties  for  a  time.  The  contributions  in- 
creased. Everywhere  it  was  a  new  story.  Immense  audiences 
were  gathered.  On  one  occasion  the  service  was  held  in  the 
churchyard,  and  the  congregation  was  estimated  at  three  thou- 
sand. In  the  spring  of  1767  they  set  out  for  Scotland  by  the 
way  of  Liverpool/^  preaching  as  they  went.  They  arrived  in 
May,  and  were  present  at  the  session  of  the  General  Assem- 
bly. It  was  known  here,  as  it  had  not  been  at  first  in  Eng- 
land, that  they  were  acting  under  the  authority  of  a  board 
of  correspondents  of  the  Scotch  Society.  Here  their  work, 
therefore,  received  the  official  endorsement  of  the  society 
which  all  Scotchmen  revered,  through  its  president,  the  Mar- 

i^Sprague's  Annals,  III,  193,  194  ;  Prime's  Hist,  of  Long  Island,  p.  iii. 

13  '•  Liverpool  is  a  pool  of  errors  &  wickedness.    The  ministers  here  are  Socinians, 
one  Arminian  &  a   Baptist  the  same,  and  another  Baptist  sound,  who  is  alone  in  a 
town  containing  30,000  souls  &  his  congregation  is  a  handful.     Fifty  years  ago  the 
Gospel  flourished  here."' — Occon's  Diary,  May  2,  1767. 
II 


146  .  SAAfSOA'  OCCOM 

quis  of  Lothian.  In  the  presence  of  the  Assembly  Occom 
brought  out  the  address  of  the  Oneida  Indians  and  the  wam- 
pum belt,  for  which  they  had  sent  in  haste  as  they  were  leav- 
ing America.  He  also  carried  it  about  among  their  churches.^* 
It  was  a  telling  note  to  sound  in  Scotland.  Their  religious 
fervor  was  aroused  as  the  Highland  clans  were  wont  to  be  by 
the  flaming  torch.  The  funds  collected  were  to  be  paid  to  the 
Scotch  Society,  and  to  be  held  by  them  "  towards  building 
and  endowing  an  Indian  academy  for  clothing,  boarding,  main- 
taining and  educating  such  Indians  as  are  designed  for  mis- 
sionaries and  schoolmasters,  and  for  maintaining  those  who 
are,  or  hereafter  shall  be  employed  on  this  glorious  errand." 
Their  stay  in  Scotland  was  not  long,  but  they  collected  there 
for  the  above  purpose  ;^2,529.^^  On  the  fifteenth  of  July  they 
went  to  Ireland,  expecting  to  meet  the  synod.  They  were  too 
late,  and  "  finding  there  a  Mr.  Edwards  collecting  for  a  Bap- 
tist college  to  be  established  in  Rhode  Island,"  they  wisely  re- 
turned to  England  to  finish  the  work  there. 

The  friends  of  the  cause  in  London  had  early  determined  to 
appoint  an  English  board  of  trustees  to  receive  and  care  for 
the  funds  raised  in  England.  This  had  not  been  at  first  con- 
templated. A  charter  had  always  been  Doctor  Wheelock's 
desire  ;  but  it  was  opposed  by  some  of  his  influential  friends. 
The  trustees  having  been  selected,  Mr.  Whitaker,  in  whose 
name  the  contributions  had  been  received  as  the  agent  for  Doc- 
tor Wheelock,  transferred  his  authority  to  the  board,  Novem- 
ber 28,  1766.  On  the  twenty-sixth  of  January  following,  the 
trustees  met  and  organized  with  the  choice  of  the  Earl  of 
Dartmouth  as  president,  John  Thornton,  Esq.,  as  treasurer,  and 

"  See  chapter  V,  note  14. 

'5  The  Scotch  Society  still  holds  this  fund.  In  1803  it  amounted  to  £2,626,  and  it 
is  now  said  to  be  over  £6,000.  The  interest  only  can  be  expended,  and  it  can 
neither  be  added  to  the  principal  nor  draw  interest.  Our  American  schools  have 
many  promising  Indian  students,  and  it  would  seem  as  if  this  honorable  society 
could  devise  some  acceptable  plan  for  assisting  them. 


THE  INDIAN  PREACHER  IN  ENGLAND  147 

Robert  Keen,  a  merchant  of  London,  as  secretary.  The  public 
were  duly  advised  of  this  action  in  the  appendix  to  the  narra- 
tive of  1767,  and  in  a  continuation  of  the  same  issued  two  years 
later  a  complete  statement  was  made  of  the  funds  collected. 
With  what  was  received  later,  the  amount  raised  in  England 
was  about  ;^9,5oo,  or  more  than  ^12,000  in  all.  Whitaker  and 
Occom  were  engaged  in  this  work  two  years  and  one  month, 
at  an  expense  of  about  ^500.  From  the  fund,  also,  their  fam- 
ilies were  supported,  and  they  each  received  as  a  gratuity  ^100. 
Occom  delivered  more  than  four  hundred  sermons  or  addresses. 
Such  a  charity  toward  a  missionary  cause  in  the  colonies  had 
never  before  been  known.  It  did  not  pass  without  recognition. 
The  General  Association  of  Connecticut,  at  its  meeting,  June  21, 
1768,  passed  an  appropriate  vote  of  thanks  to  the  churches  of 
the  mother  country. 

No  one  can  read  the  scattered  correspondence  relating  to 
this  mission  without  being  convinced  that  its  success  was  due 
almost  solely  to  Samson  Occom.  Mr.  Whitaker  very  soon  be- 
came a  mere  agent.  He  seems  not  to  have  conducted  himself 
with  discretion  at  all  times,  expressing  his  opinion  too  freely 
on  political  matters.  He  even  brought  upon  himself  the  se- 
vere censure  of  the  trustees  for  his  mismanagement  of  certain 
remittances.  It  should  be  remembered,  however,  that  his  posi- 
tion was  a  difficult  one,  as  that  of  the  fifth  wheel  to  a  coach 
always  is.  He  went  to  England  to  care  for  the  Indian,  but,  as 
it  turned  out,  his  services  were  hardly  needed  in  that  capacity. 
Occom,  on  the  other  hand,  won  universal  esteem.  Robert 
Keen  wrote  of  him,  he  is  a  "plain,  honest-hearted  man,  who 
is  well  received  wherever  he  goes."  John  Thornton  and 
George  Whitefield,  who  saw  much  of  him,  gave  him  their  un- 
qualified commendation.  After  his  return  he  received  a  letter 
from  Dr.  Andrew  Gifford,  in  which  the  writer  said,  "Your 
very  decent  and  proper  behaviour  charmed  most,  if  not  all, 
who  had   the  pleasure  of  conversing  with  you;  and  your  hu- 


148  SAMSON  OCCOM 

mility  and  piety  I  doubt  not  contributed  much  to  the  success 
of  your  application  for  the  Indian  school. "^^  Such,  in  sub- 
stance, was  the  opinion  of  all.  McClure  says  in  his  diary  that 
»'  Occom's  reputation  was  such  in  Scotland  that  some  Gentle- 
men there  offered  to  obtain  for  him  a  Doctorate  in  Divin- 
ity from  the  University  of  Edinburgh,  but  he  modestly  de- 
clined the  honour."  He  received  from  friends  here  and 
there  some  tokens  of  this  regard,  mostly  in  the  way  of 
books  which  he  brought  back  to  his  home  at  Mohegan,  The 
king  presented  him  with  a  number  of  volumes.  When,  years 
afterwards,  Occom  removed  to  the  Oneida  country,  most  of 
these  remained  behind  and  became  scattered.  A  few  have  sur- 
vived to  this  day  and  are  cherished  by  their  owners  as  memen- 
toes of  the  great  Indian  preacher.^^ 

We  are  indebted  to  this  mission  to  England  for  the  pictures 
of  Samson  Occom  which  have  come  down  to  us.  Something 
should  be  said  concerning  these.  It  is  known  that  two  por- 
traits of  him  were  made  in  oil,  from  which  all  that  have  since 
been  reproduced  here  and  there  originated.  One  was  painted 
by  Mason  Chamberlain,  a  well-known  artist  of  the  time,  some- 
what famous  for  the  remarkable  fidelity  of  his  likenesses. 
This  was  done  at  the  motion  of  the  Earl  of  Dartmouth,  and 
probably  at  his  expense.  He  also  had  a  portrait  of  Doctor  Whit- 
aker,  painted  by  the  same  artist,  which  was  presented  to  him, 
and  now  hangs  in  the  gallery  at  Dartmouth  College.     We  think 

^*^  Con7t.  Hist.  Soc,  Indian  Papers^  Lett.  May  22,  1769. 

^^  Rev.  James  Houghton,  Bryn  Mawr,  Pa.,  has  a  Bible  which  belonged  to  Occom — 
a  "  Breeches  Bible  "  of  1561.  It  has  within  the  book-plate  of  "Henry  Williams" 
and  below  it  the  words  "Shepton  Mallet,  Somersetshire  to  the  Rev*'  Mr.  Occom,  pres- 
ent." The  Conn.  Hist.  Soc.  has  a  psalter  in  Latin  and  Syriac  [Liber  Psalmorum 
Davidis  Regis  &  Prophetae]  which  was  presented  in  1S80  by  Mrs.  L.  F.  S.  Foster  of 
Norwich,  Conn.  In  the  possession  of  the  Ripley  family  at  Norwich  there  is  also  a 
"  Paraphrase  of  the  New  Testament,"  which  is  said  to  have  been  given  Occom  by 
George  III.  It  is  inscribed  "  Samuel  Warren's  Book,  which  he  bought  from  Samson 
Occum,  which  he  brought  from  England  1766."  [Caulkins'  Hist,  of  Norwich.,  p. 
465.]     We  have  also  heard  of  other  volumes  from  his  library. 


THE   INDIAN  PREACHER   IN  ENGLAND  1 49 

that  both  these  portraits  were  made  in  the  winter  of  1766, 
while  they  were  in  London.  Occom's  was  retained  in  Eng- 
land, and  although  some  search  has  been  made,  its  owner  and 
place  are  unknown  to  us.  Another  portrait  of  the  Indian 
preacher  was  painted,  we  think  later  and  by  another  artist, 
though  it  may  have  been  at  the  same  time  and  by  Chamber- 
lain for  aught  we  can  prove  to  the  contrary.  This  picture  was 
presented  to  him,  and  brought  home  to  Mohegan.  We  infer 
from  the  action  of  the  Earl  of  Dartmouth  in  Doctor  Whitaker's 
case  that  he  also  had  this  second  portrait  made,  and  possibly 
Occom  had  his  choice.  It  remained  at  Mohegan  hanging  in 
his  old  home,  under  the  care  of  his  kindred,  until  1830,  when 
it  was  secured  by  Miss  Sarah  L.  Huntington.  She  placed  it 
in  the  hands  of  John  Trumbull,  the  Connecticut  painter,  for 
restoration,  since  which  it  has  been  lost  to  view.^^  Happily 
both  these  pictures  were  reproduced;  the  Chamberlain  portrait 
being  chiefly  known  through  the  excessively  rare  mezzotint 
published  in  1768,  and  the  Mohegan  portrait  through  the  lith- 
ographs, two  hundred  and  fifty  of  which  were  struck  off  shortly 
after  its  recovery,  and  sold  for  the  benefit  of  the  Indians. ^^ 
The  difference  between  them  and  all  copies  made   since  can 

1*  DeForest's  Indians  of  Cotineciicut,  Preface,  p.  x. 

^^  The  following  pictures  of  Occom  are  noted.  After  the  Chamberlain  portrait :  (i) 
"  Mezzotint  by  [John]  Spilsbury  after  Chamberlain/'  Inscribed  "  The  first  Indian 
Minister  that  ever  was  in  Europe,  and  who  accompanied  the  Rev.  N.  Whitaker  in  an 
application  to  Great  Britain  for  Charities  to  support  ye  Rev.  Dr.  Wheelock's  Indian 
Academy,  and  Missionaries  among  ye  Native  Savages  of  N.  America.  Published 
according  to  Act  of  Parliament,  Sept.  20,  1768,  by  Henry  Parker  at  No.  82.  in  Corn- 
hill,  London."  Inscriptions  have  verbal  differences.  Early  impressions  have  none, 
as  the  author's,  from  which  the  frontispiece  was  made.  After  one  of  these,  belong- 
ing to  Samuel  G.  Drake,  several  photographs  were  made  by  Kimball,  Concord,  N.  H. 
[Ex-Gov.  B.  F.  Prescott :  Columbia  Town  Library]  and  thus  came  the  painting  by  U. 
D.  Tenney,  presented  by  Governor  Prescott  to  Dartmouth  College.  This  mezzotint 
is  a  folio,  and  has  been  sold  as  high  as  two  guineas.  (2)  Engraving,  "  Ridley  &  Blood 
Sc  —  Revd  Samson  Occom,  Indian  Preacher.  Pub  by  Williams  &  Smith  Stationers 
Court  i»t  Ocf  1808."  {London  Evangelical  Magazine,  October,  1S08.]  Sometimes 
sold  with  Occom's  sermon.  After  the  Mohegan  portrait :  (i)  Lithograph.  Inscrip- 
tion :    "  The  Reverend  Samson   Occom  The  First  Indian    Minister  that  ever  was   in 


150  SAMSON  OCCOM 

be  readily  detected.  In  the  Chamberlain  portrait  the  subject 
faces  to  his  right,  the  uplifted  hand  is  pointing  to  an  open 
folio  Bible  upright  on  a  table,  and  there  are  implements  of 
Indian  warfare  on  the  wall.  In  the  Mohegan  portrait  the  sub- 
ject faces  to  his  left,  the  hand  rests  on  an  open  Bible  flat  on 
a  table  before  him,  and  on  the  wall  there  is  a  bookcase,  with 
books.  The  former  has  the  hair  flowing  back  from  the  fore- 
head, the  latter  has  it  parted  in  the  middle. 

It  was  near  the  close  of  the  year  1767  when  Doctor  Whitaker 
and  the  Indian  preacher  returned  to  London.  They  made 
thereafter  some  short  tours  round  about.  In  the  spring  they 
prepared  for  the  homeward  voyage.  It  has  been  said  that 
there  was  a  disagreement  between  them,  in  consequence  of 
which  they  did  not  return  together.^°  We  have  found  no  evi- 
dence of  any  personal  differences,  though  Occom  probably 
sided  with  the  trustees  in  their  criticism  of  Doctor  Whitaker 
already  noted.  The  latter  was  doubtless  detained  by  the  busi- 
ness. He  did  not  sail  until  April  and  then  came  in  a  ship  to 
New  York,  reaching  Norwich  on  or  about  the  second  of  June. 
Occom  was  ready  to  depart  in  March  and  sailed  for  Boston 
the  latter  part  of  the  month  in  Captain  Robert  Calef's  ship, 
London  Packet,  which  arrived  on  the  twentieth  of  May.^^  He 
had  a  stormy  passage  of  eight  weeks.  Soon  after  they  sailed 
he  was  taken  very  ill  and  for  some  time  he  was  in  a  delirium. 

Europe  who  went  to  Britain  to  obtain  charities  for  the  support  of  the  Revd  Dr 
Wheelocks  Indian  Accademy  &  Missionaries  among  the  savages  of  North  America  in 
1768."  Other  copies  have  "  Sampson  Occom  "  and  "Academy."  The  Conn.  Hist. 
See.  has  both.  From  this  lithograph  De  Forest's  cut  was  made  [p.  459]  by  "  N.  Orr 
Sc."  [See  De  Forest's  Ind.  of  Conn.,  Pref.,  p.  x  ;  Mem.  of  Mrs.  Sarah  L.  Hunting- 
ton Smith,  p.  123.]  This  is  a  folio,  two  hundred  and  fifty  copies  being  made  at  the 
expense  of  Miss  Murray  of  New  York  about  1831,  and  perhaps  more  later.  They 
are  now  scarce.  (2)  Schoolcraffs  Indian  Tribes,  large  edn,,  vol.  V,  p.  518.  En- 
graving by  Illman  &  Sons.  (3)  Picture  in  India  ink,  by  Edward  G.  Kunkely,  Utica, 
N.  Y.,  in  Hamilton  College  gallery. 

'•^0  Caulkins'  Hist,  of  Norwich,  edn.  1845,  p.  296. 

'i'^  New  London  Gazette, 'M.d^y  27,1768;  McClure's  Mem.  of  Wheelock,  p.  175; 
Narrative,  1769,  p.  144.  • 


THE  INDIAN  PREACHER  IN  ENGLAND 


151 


At  the  end  of  a  month  he  began  to  amend  and  before  the 
voyage  ended  he  had  quite  recovered  his  strength.  So  with 
gladness  at  last  he  greeted  once  more  his  native  land,  reflect- 
ing on  the  joy  of  a  safe  arrival  "  at  the  haven  of  the  New 
Jerusalem."  There  were  then  hearty  congratulations  for  him 
in  Boston.  These  he  hardly  waited  to  receive.  He  started 
on  horseback  the  next  morning  and  soon  he  was  again  among 
the  hills  of  Mohegan — at  home. 


CHAPTER    IX 

DARK    DAYS    AT    MOHEGAX 
.1768-1771 

The  portrait  which  an  artist  puts  upon  the  canvas  owes  its 
likeness  oftentimes  to  the  shadows.  It  is  hardly  possible 
that  an  Indian,  with  all  the  defects  of  his  race,  could  grow  to 
the  full  stature  of  a  civilized  man  without  struggles  against 
his  hereditary  weaknesses.  At  all  events  it  is  the  office  of 
the  historian  to  set  forth  the  facts  without  prejudice.  Thus 
we  are  brought  to  consider  the  darkest  period  in  Samson 
Occom's  life. 

The  Indian  preacher,  whose  mission  to  England  had  been 
discouraged  by  most  and  its  full  success  anticipated  by  none, 
came  back  to  Mohegan  a  distinguished  character.  He  had 
won  a  fame  among  the  whites.  Many  pulpits,  into  which  he 
would  never  have  been  admitted  before,  were  now  open  to 
him.  His  own  people  were  brought  more  than  ever  under 
his  influence.  Some  of  the  baser  sort  were  jealous  of  him  ; 
but  most  of  them  regarded  him  with  respect  and  many  with 
affection.  He  was  surely  the  foremost  man  of  their  race  in 
the  colonies.  In  this  situation  Occom  may  have  developed 
some  pride.  His  friends  had  feared  he  would.  Still  we  fail 
to  detect  any  evidences  of  it  in  his  extant  writings.  So  far  as 
they  give  us  light,  the  reaction  came  to  him  from  his  personal 
discouragements  and  his  sore  disappointment  at  the  sequel  of 
his  mission  to  England  in  behalf  of  the  Indian  school. 

The  agreement  under  which  Occom  had  left  his  family  pro- 
vided that  they  were  to  be  cared  for  and  supported  by  Doctor 
Wheelock  in  his  absence.     The  expenses  of  the  missions  were 

152 


DARK  DAYS  AT  MOHEGAN  1 53 

large,  the  resources  were  small.  There  was,  indeed,  no  stated 
income  which  could  be  applied  to  this  purpose.  This  Indian 
family  were  by  no  means  forgotten  ;  but  amid  his  many  cares 
Doctor  Wheelock  was  undoubtedly  remiss  in  supplying, 
promptly,  their  necessities.  Mary  Occom  had  to  remind  him 
of  her  wants  in  such  words  as  these  :  "  I  am  out  of  Corn  and 
have  no  Money  to  buy  any  with  and  am  affraid  we  shall  suffer 
for  want."  Of  this  apparent  neglect  Occom  heard  on  return- 
ing home.  His  feelings  were  wounded.  The  father  at  Leba- 
non had  not  dealt  kindly  by  his  Indian  son.  For  some  time 
he  did  not  go  thither  to  see  him. 

Occom  also  found  his  family  in  a  distracted  state.  His  wife 
was  in  poor  health  ;  his  children  showed  the  need  of  paternal 
government.  McClure  has  the  following  paragraph  on  this  fam- 
ily in  his  diary  :  "  He  appeared  to  preside  in  his  family  with 
dignity  &  to  have  his  children  in  subjection.  In  these,  however, 
&  in  his  wife,  he  was  not  happy.  He  wished  to  live  in  Eng- 
lish style  ;  but  his  Wife  who  was  of  the  Montauk  Tribe  re- 
tained a  fondness  for  her  Indian  customs.  She  declined,  even- 
ing &  morning  setting  at  table.  Her  dress  was  mostly  Indian, 
&  when  he  spake  to  her  in  english,  she  answered  in  her  native 
language,  although  she  could  speak  good  english.  His  chil- 
dren when  they  left  him,  adopted  the  wild  &  roving  life  of 
Savages."  There  is  much  truth  in  this  statement,  though  the 
wife  was  certainly  an  estimable  Christian  woman,  and  all  his 
children  did  not  turn  out  as  indicated. 

Occom  had  then  seven  children,  ranging  from  sixteen  to 
three  years  of  age,  as  follows  :  Mary,  Aaron,  Tabitha,  Olive, 
Christiana,  Talitha  and  Benoni.  Three  others,  at  least,  were 
afterwards  born  to  him  :  Theodosia,  Lemuel  Fowler  and  An- 
drew Gifford.  As  a  father  he  was  always  affectionate,  and 
anxious  that  his  children  should  rise  above  the  Indian's 
estate  and  enter  useful  lives.  Some  of  them  did  so,  but  others 
brought  him,  as  he  afterwards  wrote,  "  sorrow  on  sorrow."    We 


154  SAMSON  OCCOM 

have  an  instance  of  his  playfulness — the  only  one  we  have 
met  with — in  a  letter  which  he  wrote  from  England.  As  such 
it  is  worth  recording  : 

My  dear  Mary  and  Esther — 

Perhaps  you  may  query  whether  I  am  well :  I  came  from  home  well,  was 
by  the  way  well,  got  over  well,  am  received  at  London  well,  and  am  treated 
extremely  well, — yea,  I  am  caress'd  too  well.  And  do  you  pray  that  I  may 
be  well;  and  that  I  may  do  well,  and  in  Time  return  Home  well.  And  I 
hope  you  are  well,  and  wish  you  well,  and  as  I  think  you  begun  well,  so 
keep  on  well,  that  you  may  end  well  and  then  all  will  be  well. 

And  So  Farewell, 
Samson  Occom.i 

The  eldest  son,  Aaron,  had  been  a  second  time  put  under 
Doctor  Wheelock's  care  in  the  father's  absence.  He  had, 
however,  no  particular  interest  in  obtaining  an  education  and 
was  inclined  to  be  wild.  He  did  not  behave  well  in  the  school, 
and  the  minister  was  compelled  to  write  the  father  about  him. 
The  reply  betrays  Occom's  disappointment :  "  If  he  Inclines 
to  Book  Learning,  give  him  a  good  English  Education,  but  if 
not,  let  him  go  to  some  good  master  to  Learn  [the]  Joiners 
Trade  if  he  Inclines  to  that,  and  if  that  Won't  do  Send  him 
over  to  me  and  I  will  give  him  away  to  some  gentlemen  here."^ 
In  this  same  letter  he  expressed  the  fear  that  his  peregrina- 
tions had  compelled  him  to  neglect  his  children.  Their  train- 
ing had  been  left  to  his  wife  and  they  needed  a  father's 
restraint.  This  son  continued  to  be  somewhat  wayward.  He 
married  at  eighteen  Ann  Robin,  a  daughter  of  Samuel,  an 
adopted  Indian  from  Middletown,  and  died  in  February,  1771, 
leaving  a  posthumous  son  named  Aaron.  The  conduct  of 
this  son  was  a  trial  Occom  had  to  meet  when  he  returned  from 
England.     Yet  he  had  been  a  faithful  father.     His  letters  con- 

^Caulkins' //zj/.  (j/A'iprtwV//,  p.  465.  Miss  Caulkins  says  this  was  written  to  his 
two  daughters.  We  know  no  daughter  Esther,  and  think  she  was  a  cousin  or  friend 
of  Mary. 

2  Wheelock  Papers,  Lett.  Feb.  12, 1767  ;  see  also  Mary  Occom  to  Wheelock,  Nov. 
8,1766. 


DARK  DAYS  AT  MOHEGAA[  1 55 

tain  such  tender  words  as  these  to  his  children  :  "  Remember 
wherever  you  are,  you  are  in  the  presence  of  that  God  that 
made  you  and  to  him  you  must  give  an  account  of  your  con- 
duct and  remember  the  Day  of  your  Death  is  hastening." 

There  were  also  many  perplexities  and  cares  awaiting  him 
at  Mohegan.  His  house  had  never  been  thoroughly  com- 
pleted. It  was  necessary  that  he  should  at  once  bring  his 
acres  under  proper  cultivation  for  the  support  of  his  family. 
Indeed,  the  main  question  was  what  he  should  do  for  a  living. 
He  was  again  out  of  employment.  The  work  which  he  desired 
to  undertake  was  that  of  a  general  missionary  to  the  New  Eng- 
land tribe.s.  For  this  he  was  preeminently  fitted.  He  had  rel- 
atives or  friends  in  most  of  the  Indian  settlements  there- 
abouts. This  was  the  work,  it  will  be  remembered,  which  he 
had  begun  under  the  commissioners  when  he  was  called  off  to 
serve  under  the  -Connecticut  correspondents.  But  he  could 
not  now  return  to^this,  for  the  commissioners  had  been  of- 
fended by  his  going  to  England,  as  we  have  related.  The  cor- 
respondents had  been  superseded  by  the  English  trustees. 
They  took  up  no  new  work  and  in  1769  ceased  to  meet.  More- 
over, Doctor  Wheelock  refused  to  support  him  in  such  a  work, 
because  missions  among  the  seacoast  tribes  were  under  the 
jurisdiction  of  the  commissioners  at  Boston.^  The  only  ser- 
vice which  was  offered  him  was  a  mission  westward  to  the 
Onondagas,  which  Doctor  Wheelock  repeatedly  urged  upon 
him.  This  would  take  him  away  from  his  family.  He  felt 
that  it  was  his  duty  to  remain  with  them  more  than  he  had  ; 
they  needed  his  care  and  training.  Still,  there  were  other  rea- 
sons for  declining  this  mission,  as  will  presently  appear.  These 
Doctor  Wheelock  did  not  then  understand  and  hence  he  mis- 
judged Occom.  He  wrote  of  him  thus  to  Whitefield  :  "  He 
is  averse  to  seek  any  settlement  more  convenient  for  future 
usefulness   y"  at   Mohegan — He   consents  to  take   a  tour  into 

^Wheelock  Pajiers,  Letts,  Jan.  8,  1770,  and  June  20,  1771. 


156  •  SAMSOA'  OCCOM 

y^  wilderness  y'  season.  What  he  will  do  for  future  support  I 
cant  tell — There  is  no  probability  y*  y""  Boston  Commissioners 
will  do  anything  for  him — I  suspect  his  principal  dependence 
is  upon  y^  tillage  of  his  lands.  I  am  fully  convinced  y*  God 
does  not  design,  y*  Indians  shall  have  y''  lead  in  y'  affair  at 
present."*  The  sum  of  the  matter  was,  therefore,  that  Samson 
Occom,  at  a  time  when  he  had  most  reason  to  expect  some 
consideration  on  account  of  his  services,  was  stranded  at 
Mohegan.  He  had  left  every  other  employment  to  obey  his 
patron,  and  having  been  used  to  his  advantage,  he  w^as  dis- 
charged. So  the  Indian  viewed  the  situation.  Whitefield 
had  told  him,  he  said,  that  "they  had  made  him  a  tool  to  col- 
lect monies  for  them  in  England,  but  when  he  got  to  America 
they  would  set  him  adrift."  It  is  unnecessary  to  say  that 
Doctor  Wheelock  had  no  such  intention.  He  thought  for 
some  time  that  Occom  had  an  annual  pension  from  England. 
This  was  not  the  fact.  He  had  only  received  several  private 
gifts  from  Mr.  Thornton,  who,  after  the  Trust  had  ceased, 
wrote  Occom  that  he  might  draw  on  him  for  ;^5o,  if  he  was  at 
any  time  in  distress.  When  the  trustees  in  England  learned 
how  matters  stood,  they  openly  declared  that  Occom  had  been 
ill-treated.  In  1772  they  wrote  him  to  draw  for  ;^5o  at  once, 
and  for  £2^  every  six  months  or  for  ;^5o  annually  during 
their  pleasure.^  The  Scotch  Society  also  made  him  a  grant. 
At  this  time  Doctor  Wheelock  had  begun  to  see  the  other 
side  of  the  case.  His  trusted  pupil,  David  McClure,  visited 
Occom,  learned  the  situation,  and  wrote  thus  to  his  patron  : 
"  Before  he  went  to  England,  he  was  under  the  pay  of  the 
Boston  board,  and  since  his  return  has  been  rejected  by  them 
and  by  the  School  too.  And  considering  what  Indian  Genius 
&  temper  are,  has  there  not,  Sir,  been  too  much  occasion  for 

*Wheelock  Papers,  Lett.  April  24,  1769. 

^Conn.  Hist.  Soc,  Indian  Papers,    Lett.  Thornton  to    Occom,  May   12,   1772; 
Chase's  Hist,  of  Dart.  Coll,  p.  243. 


DARK  DAYS  AT  MOHEGAN  157 

him   to   complain   of  neglect?"^     Thus,  after  four  years,  this 
cause  for  ill-feeling  was  in  a  measure  removed. 

This,  however,  was  not  the  only  reason  why  the  friendly  re- 
lations of  many  years  between  Wheelock  and  Occom  were  dis- 
turbed. When  the  Indian  returned  from  England  he  found 
his  patron  wholly  engaged  in  his  scheme  for  the  removal  of  the 
Indian  Charity  School.  Of  this  movement  the  historian  of 
Dartmouth  College  has  given  an  admirable  account.^  So  early 
as  1 76 1,  Doctor  Wheelock  had  conceived  the  idea  of  locating 
nearer  the  Indian  tribes  westward.  He  wrote  Sir  William  John- 
son in  1762,  as  follows :  "  If  way  could  be  made  for  setting  up 
this  school  in  some  convenient  place  and  the  settlement  of 
three  or  four  Towns  round  about  it,  I  would  remove  with  it  and 
bring  several  Ministers*with  me  of  the  best  character  and  take 
care  to  people  the  place  with  Inhabitants  of  known  honesty, 
Integrity  and  such  as  love  Indians  and  will  seek  their  Inter- 
est." Here  in  the  germ  was  his  plan,  designated  the  year  fol- 
lowing, in  his  plea  to  the  Privy  Council  for  a  charter,  as  "  A 
Proposal  for  Introducing  Religion,  Learning,  Agriculture  and 
Manufacture  among  the  Pagans  in  America."  The  place  then 
in  view  was  on  the  Susquehanna  river.  Sir  William  Johnson 
was  even  then  opposed  to  a  removal  among  the  Six  Nations. 
He  would  have  been  intensely  hostile  to  it  later,  and  this  was 
reason  enough  why  a  location,  favored  by  both  Kirkland  and 
Occom,  was  impracticable.  Various  propositions  were  made 
to  Doctor  Wheelock,  from  Albany,  Stockbridge,  Hebron  and 
other  places  ;  but  the  most  advantageous  was  of  a  tract  of  land 
in  the  western  part  of  the  Province  of  New  Hampshire.  The 
formation  of  the  Board  of  Trust  in  England  to  hold  the  funds 
there  collected,  was  a  fatal  blow  to  all  hopes  of  a  royal  char- 
ter, for  the  trustees  were  opposed,  but  they  finally  consented 
to  the  removal,  and,  on   the   3d   of  April,  1769,  approved  the 

'■■  Wheelock  Papers,  Lett.  June  30,  1772. 

■  Chase's  Hist,  of  Dart.  Coll.,  pp.  32-35,  46,  90  ff,2i7  ft". 


158  SAMSON  OCCOM 

location.  This  was  not  Occom's  affair.  He  had,  however, 
while  in  England,  declared  his  judgment  in  favor  of  remaining 
at  Lebanon,  where  the  school  was  near  the  New  England  In- 
dians. On  his  return  he  expressed  the  opinion  that,  if  the 
school  removed,  it  should  be  to  a  location  in  the  midst  of  the 
Indians  of  the  Oneida  country.  He  feared,  long  before  the 
result  was  apparent,  that  a  college  in  "  the  woods  of  Coos  " 
would  be  no  advantage  to  the  Indians  for  whom  all  the  money 
had  been  collected.  Still,  it  was  not  so  much  the  removal  that 
he  opposed  as  the  alteration  in  Dr.  Wheelock's  plan,  to  educate 
more  white  missionaries  and  fewer  Indians.  To  this  change 
Occom  was  never  reconciled.  It  seems  that  when  he  had  left 
England,  the  trustees,  who  had  great  c^onfidence  in  him,  *'  en- 
gaged him  to  write  particularly  of  the  school  and  the  disposal 
of  the  moneys  collected  in  England."^  He  did  not  wish  to  do 
so,  but  they  insisted.  Yet  it  was  some  time  before  he  \Orote 
at  all,  which  his  patron  attributed  to  neglect.  In  1770  David 
McClure  visited  Mohegan  and  found  out  the  reason,  which  he 
stated  as  follows  :  "  If  he  wrote  he  must  not  be  silent  concern- 
ing the  state  of  the  school  as  friends  there  w'd  expect  that 
from  him  if  he  wrote,  and  as  the  school  is  at  present  consti- 
tuted he  imagined  an  account  of  it  would  not  be  agreeable  to 
gentlemen  at  home  nor  answer  their  expectations.  He  com- 
plained, but  in  a  friendly  manner,  that  the  Indian  was  con- 
verted into  an  English  School  and  that  the  English  had 
crowded  out  the  Indian  youth.  He  instanced  one  Symons  a 
likely  Indian  who  came  to  get  admittance  but  could  not  be  ad- 
mitted because  the  school  was  full.  He  supposed  that  the 
gentlemen  in  England  thought  the  School  at  present  was  made 
up  chiefly  of  Indian  youth,  and  that  should  he  write  and  in- 
form them  to  the  contrary,  as  he  must  if  he  wrote,  it  would  give 
them  a  disgust  and  jealousy  that  the  charities  were  not  ap- 
plied in  a  way  agreeable   to   the   intention   of  the  donors  and 

^  Chase's  Hist,  of  Dart.  Coll.,  p.  63  n. 


DARK  DAYS  AT  MO  H EG  AN  1 59 

benefactors,  which  was  to  educate  Indians  chiefly."^  Some 
correspondence  ensued  between  Wheelock  and  Occom  on  this 
point.  The  latter  wrote  thus :  "  In  my  apprehension  your 
present  plan  is  not  calculated  to  benefit  the  poor  Indians,  it 
is  no  ways  winning  to  them  and  unless  there  is  an  alterative 
suitable  to  the  minds  of  the  Indians  you  will  never  do  much 
more  good  among  the  Indians  :  your  First  Plan  was  much  bet- 
ter than  the  last,  you  did  much  good  in  it  and  if  you  rightly 
managed  the  Indians  your  Institution  would  have  flourished 
by  this  Time."^°  When  Doctor  Wheelock  expressed  to  him 
the  hope  that  he  would  see  many  of  his  "tawny"  brethren 
nourished  in  that  Alma  Mater,  the  Indian  replied:  "I  am 
very  jealous  that  instead  of  your  institution  becoming  Alma 
Mater  to  my  brethren,  she  will  be  too  Alba  Mater  to  nourish 
the  tawnies."^^  He  was  besought  by  his  patron  "if  he  did 
not  favor  the  institution,  not  to  harm  it,  as  he  well  knew  no 
one  could  do  it  so  much  harm  as  he  should  he  attempt  it." 
For  some  time  Occom  did  maintain  a  friendly  silence.  He 
was  compelled  at  length  to  disclose  his  feelings  to  friends  in 
England.  The  charge  that  the  funds  had  been  perverted  was 
to  such  an  extent  current  in  1771,  that  Doctor  Wheelock  was 
forced  to  make  answer  in  his  narrative. ^^  He  certainly  did 
not  intend  to  divert  funds  contributed  for  the  Indians  ;  but  he 
thought  they  would  be  profited  most  by  the  education  of  white 
missionaries.  Such  was  his  reply.  Still,  Occom  was  never 
persuaded  to  alter  his  opinion.  Several  years  after  Doctor 
Wheelock's  death,  he  wrote  thus :  "  Doc'^  Wheelock's  Indian 
Academy  or  Schools  are  become  altogether  unprofitable  to  the 
poor  Indians.  In  short,  he  has  done  little  or  no  good  to  the 
Indians  with  all  that  money  we  collected  in  England  since  we 

"^Wheelock  Papers,  Lett.  McCliire  to  Wheelock,  May  21,  1770. 
"^^ Ibid.,  Lett.  June  i,  1773. 

^'  Conn.  Hist.  Soc,  Indian  Papers  a.nd  "  Havermeyer  Letter,"  Occom  to  Wheelock, 
July  24,  1 771,  Dartmouth  College. 
J2  Wheelock's  Narrative,  1771,  p.  18. 


l6o  SAMSON  OCCOM 

got  home.  That  money  never  educated  but  one  Indian  and 
one  Mollatoe — that  is  part  Negro  and  part  Indian — and  there 
has  not  been  one  Indian  in  that  Institution  this  some  time."^* 
This  was  not  exactly  the  truth.  Such,  however,  was  Occom's 
opinion — the  funds  had  been  perverted. 

Why  had  this  teacher,  who  had  once  considered  the  Chris- 
tianizing of  Indians  by  Indians  so  important,  now  come  to 
place  his  hope  in  white  missionaries  ?  He  had  lost  confidence 
in  his  Christian  Indians.  Some  of  his  pupils  had  apostatized 
or  lapsed  into  the  evil  habits  of  their  race.  At  the  same  time 
it  came  to  pass  that  they  lost  confidence  in  him.  His  intiu-. 
ence  over  the  tribes  he  had  befriended  was  impaired.  When 
they  came  to  suspect  that  he  had  cast  them  off,  his  chances 
of  prosecuting  missions  among  them  or  gathering  their  chil- 
dren in  his  school,  were  gone.  He  had  held  his  scholars  by 
his  personal,  fatherly  interest  in  them  ;  but  the  bond  was 
broken  between  the  father  and  his  children.  It  was  never  re- 
stored. The  decline  of  the  Indian  Charity  School  was  not 
caused  by  its  removal.  It  had  received  its  death-blow  the 
year  before  that  matter  was  finally  decided.  Its  founder  was 
right  in  thinking  that  a  good  foundation,  with  lands  and 
friendly  whites  round  about,  were  favorable  conditions.  He 
might  have  recovered  what  he  had  lost  by  locating  among  the 
Six  Nations ;  but  that  is  uncertain.  The  enlargement  of  the 
school  into  a  college,  and  the  broadening  of  its  purpose  to  edu- 
cate more  white  youth,  were  not  necessarily  fatal  departures. 
It  had  always  professed  to  exist  in  part  for  such  pupils.  This 
institution,  which  had  attained  an  honorable  fame,  lost  within 
a  year  its  esprit  de  corps  as  an  Indian  school.  It  was  the  mis- 
fortune rather  than  the  fault  of  its  noble  founder. 

Samson  Occom  had  been  at  home  only  a  few  weeks  when 
he  received  a  visit  from  a  company  of  Oneida  Indians.  He 
had  then  from  Deacon  Thomas,  their  leader,  a  true  account  of 

''  Conn.  Hist.  Soc,  Indiaii  Papers. 


DARK  DAYS  AT  MO  11  EG  AN  i6l 

the  Western  missions.  Troubles  had  arisen  which  he  then  saw 
would  lead  to  their  utter  collapse.  This  was  the  reason,  already 
hinted  at,  why  he  would  not  accept  the  offer  of  a  mission  to  the 
Onondagas.  The  Indians  told  him  about  the  behavior  of  Doc- 
tor VVheelock's  eldest  son,  Ralph,  who  had  only  lately  returned 
from  his  third  and  most  fatal  journey  westward  in  behalf  of  his 
father. ^^  It  was  a  mistake  to  send  this  "  imprudent,  domineer- 
ing and  irascible  "  young  man  on  business  so  important.  His 
conduct  toward  Kirkland  had  been  very  offensive.  When  the 
missionary  that  spring  had  broken  down  in  health  and  retired 
for  a  time  from  his  work,  Ralph  Wheelock  had  accused  him 
to  the  Indians  of  running  away.  They  had  nobly  defended 
him.  He  was  their  beloved  father.  This  was  the  reply  they 
received  from  his  lordship:  "Who  do  you  think  your  father 
is  ?  Do  you  think  his  power  and  authority  are  equal  to  mine  ? 
He  is  no  more  than  my  father's  servant,  and  so  are  all  those 
ministers  and  schoolmasters  he  sends  here."  Was  it  likely 
that  the  Indians  would  be  favorably  disposed  toward  this 
young  Rehoboam  who  announced  that  he  was  to  be  his  father's 
successor?  He  went  on  to  Onondaga,  and  there  had  a  high- 
voiced  quarrel  in  their  council-house.  Can  any  one  wonder 
that  Occom  did  not  wish  to  carry  the  gospel  under  the  pat- 
ronage of  Doctor  Wheelock  to  this  mortally  offended  tribe.^  The 
son  made  garbled  reports  of  his  journeys  to  his  father,  so  the 
real  state  of  affairs  was  not  known  for  some  time.  Another 
mistake  was  made  when  Doctor  Wheelock  sent  back  with  these 

H  Ralph  Wlieelock,  born  in  1746,  graduated  at  Vale  College  in  1765,  and  became  for 
nearly  two  years  the  master  of  the  Indian  school.  He  made  three  journeys  westward 
in  behalf  of  the  missions,  the  first  July  11,  1766,  with  Rev.  Benjamin  Pomeroy  ;  the 
second  with  Augustine  Hibbard,  about  Sept.  i,  1767  \_Narr.,  1769,  pp.  29-36],  and 
the  third  with  Allyn  Mather,  from  March  7,  176S,  to  April  29,1768  \^Narr.^  1769, 
pp.  44-54].  In  1770  he  was  a  tutor  at  Dartmouth  College.  His  health  was  impaired 
by  epilepsy,  and  he  was  thought  to  be  irresponsible  in  part  for  the  trouble  he  caused. 
Subsequent  attempts  to  heal  the  disaffection  of  the  Indians  failed.  [See  Avery's 
MS.  Reports,  Dart.  Coll.,  Oct.  i,  1771,  and  May  31,  1772.]  Ralph  Wheelock  died 
at  Hanover.  Feb.  7.  18 17. 
I :: 


1 62  SAMSON  OCCOM 

Oneidas  as  his  envoy  to  the  Indian  congress  about  to  meet  at 
Canajoharie,  Rev.  Jacob  W.  Johnson,  of  Groton.  He  had  no 
experience,  and  was  not  qualified  for  a  diplomatist.  In  the 
course  of  his  negotiations  he  made  a  breach  between  Doctor 
Wheelock  and  Sir  William  Johnson,  who  was  all  but  an  Indian 
emperor. ^^  What  favor  could  the  Indian  Charity  School  expect 
thereafter  ?  So  in  the  storm  of  a  season  its  hopes  were  swept 
away.  The  Oneidas  came  again  in  a  few  months  to  Lebanon 
and  took  home  their  children.  Several  remaining  Mohawks 
were  sent  for.  The  New  England  Indians  seem  to  have  been 
no  longer  wanted.     The  springs  had  dried  up. 

All  these  discouraging  circumstances  prepared  the  way  for 
the  so-called  fall  of  Samson  Occom.  He  was  disheartened. 
The  dreams  of  many  an  hour  abroad  had  vanished.  In  the 
autumn  of  1768  he  was  taken  sick,  and  for  a  long  time  was  in 
poor  health.  As  he  could,  he  went  hither  and  thither  among 
the  New  England  Indians  without  commission  or  support. 
Some  time  in  the  month  of  February  following  he  was  overcome 
on  an  occasion  with  strong  drink.  The  circumstances  of  this 
fall  are  unknown  to  us.  It  happened  shortly  after  a  second 
visit  of  the  Oneida  chiefs,  when  they  came  to  take  home  their 
children.  Our  earliest  information  is  derived  from  the  letters 
of  Doctor  Wheelock,  who  wrote  of  the  fact  to  Occom's  friends. 
In  a  letter  to  Whitefield,  on  the  24th  of  April,  he  said  :  "  God 
has  left  him  to  fall  into  Intemperance  (I  hope  in  Great  Mercy 
to  him)  he  appears  considerably  humble."  ^*^  Much  to  Doctor 
Wheelock's  regret,  it  seems  from  the  same  letter,  he  was  not 
humble  enough  to  accept  a  mission  to  the  Onondagas,  for 
which  he  still  thought  him  fit.  Most  writers  who  have  noticed 
the  career  of  Occom  have  made  much  of  this   matter.     Some 

15  Rev.  Jacob  W.  Johnson  was  then  the  minister  at  Groton  [Ledyard],  where  he 
had  ministered  some  to  the  Mushantuxet  Pequots.  See  on  his  Hfe  Dexter's  Vale 
Biographies,  I,  649-651  ;  Chase's  Hist.  Dart.  Coll.,  pp.  79-84;  and  Doc.  Hist,  of  N.  ¥., 
IV,  244-250. 

1"  IV/ieeloc/c  Papers,  -Lett.  April  24,  1769.     See  also  letter  of  March  9,  1769. 


DARK  DAYS  AT  MO  H  EG  AN  1 63 

have  thought  it  an  important  argument  against  attempts  to 
civilize  the  Indian  that  this  man,  "the  glory  of  his  race,"  suf- 
fered a  fall.^^  The  drinking  customs  of  the  time  being  what 
they  were,  it  cannot  be  thought  strange  if  an  Indian  took 
enough  liquor  in  a  few  instances  to  feel  the  effect  of  it. 
If  he  had  not  taken  any  it  would  have  been  stranger.  He 
would  doubtless  have  been  the  sole  clerical  representative  of  a 
total  abstinence  party  in  Connecticut.  Occom  was  in  truth 
greatly  humbled.  He  made  known  his  fault  at  once  to  his 
friends,  and  was  far  more  concerned  about  himself  than  they 
were.  The  most  remarkable  feature  of  the  case  was,  that  he 
.accused  himself  before  the  Suffolk  Presbytery.  K  copy  of  his 
confession  is  extant,  in  which  he  says:  "I  have  been  shame- 
fully overtaken  with  strong  drink,  by  which  I  have  greatly 
wounded  the  cause  of  God,  blemished  the  pure  religion  of 
Jesus  Christ,  blackened  my  own  character  and  hurt  my  own 
soul."^^  This  is  how  it  came  to  pass  that  "his  intemperance 
drew  upon  him  the  discipline  of  the  Church."  Let  us  see  what 
this  ecclesiastical  body  thought  of  this  terrible  fall : 

In  the  Presbytery  of  Suffolk  at  Easthampton,  April  12,  1769.  .  .  . 
The  Presbytery  received  a  Letter  from  Mr.  Occom  in  which  he  accuses  him- 
self of  having  been  guilty  of  intemperate  drinking,  for  which  he  very  highly 
condemns  himself;  and  at  the  same  Time  understood  that  a  Report  had 
become  Publick.  The  Presbytery  entered  upon  Consideration  of  the  Mat- 
ter, and  from  the  best  Light  they  can  now  obtain  are  of  the  Opinion  that 
said  Accusation  arises  from  a  very  gloomy  and  desponding  Frame  of  Mind, 
under  which  they  are  informed  that  Mr.  Occom  has,  for  some  time  Past 
laboured ;  and  do  therefore  refer  the  further  Consideration  of  this  Matter 

1'  "  There  has  never  been  a  more  idle  scheme  of  philanthropy,  than  that  of  convert- 
ing a  savage  into  a  civilized  man.  No  one  attempt,  it  is  believed,  has  ever  been  suc- 
cessful. Even  Sampson  Occum,  before  his  death  relapsed  into  some  of  the  worst 
habits  of  his  tribe ;  and  no  North  American  Indian  of  unmixed  blood,  whatever  pains 
may  have  been  taken  with  his  education,  has  been  known  to  adopt  the  manners  of 
civilized  men,  or  to  pass  his  life  among  them."— Spark's  Life  of  John  Ledyard,  Am. 
Biog.,  XXIV,  91.  See  also.  Prime's  Hist,  of  Long  Islattd,  p.  no,  and  Sprague's  An- 
nals, III,  194.     Sprague  follows  Prime  in  erroneously  giving  the  date  as  1764. 

^*  Conn.  Hist.  Soc,  Indian  Papers ;  Sprague's  Antta/s,  III,  194. 


164  SAMSON  OCCOM 

to  our  next  session  of  Presbytery,  desiring  Mr.  Buell  in  the  Mean  Time  to 
obtain  all  possable  Intelligence  with  respect  to  s^.  Affair,  &  make  report 
thereof  at  our  next  Session. 

In  the  Presbytery  of  Suffolk  at  Bridge  Hampton,  November  i,  1769. 
,  .  ,  The  Presbytery  next  entered  upon  the  Consideration  of  Mr.  Oc- 
com's  Affair,  which  on  reading  the  Minutes  of  last  session  of  Presbytery, 
we  find  refered  to  this.  Mr.  Occom  being  now  present  was  very  particu- 
larly examined  by  the  Presbytery  with  respect  to  all  the  Circumstances  of 
s<'.  Affair,  and  Mr.  Puell  having  reported  to  the  Presbytery  the  Intelligence 
he  had  obtained  relating  thereto.  The  Presbytery  are  fully  of  Opinion  that 
all  the  Sensations  of  Intoxication,  which  he  condemned  himself  for  arose, 
not  from  any  Degree  of  intemperate  drinking,  but  from  having  Drank  a 
small  Quantity  of  Spirituous  Liquor  after  having  been  all  day  without 
food.i9 

This  record  is  very  remarkable ;  first,  in  that  a  minister  con- 
fessed at  all,  and  second,  in  that,-having  confessed,  he  was 
acquitted.  The  reader  who  has  looked  over  the  ministerial 
rum-accounts  of  those  days,  will  wonder  whether  the  other 
members  of  the  Suffolk  Presbytery  would  have  dared  to  take 
such  a  risk.  Had  the  Rev.  Eleazar  Wheelock,  D.  D.,  never 
had  any  such  "sensations'*?  He  paid  for  a  considerable 
quantity  of  spirituous  liquor.  What  a  unique  case  !  Occom 
accused  himself,  was  examined,  and  pronounced  not  guilty  ! 
These  interesting  points  are  brought  out, — he  had  been  for 
some  time  in  "a  very  gloomy  and  desponding  frame  of  mind," 
he  had  been  on  the  occasion  "  all  day  without  food,"  and  he 
had  not  indulged  in  '^' intemperate  drinking."  If  this  were  all, 
the  case  would  be  closed.  Doctor  Wheelock,  however,  in  his 
letters,  says  that  again,  in  the  summer  of  1770,  Occom  had  a 
"  Second  grievious  fall  into  the  sin  of  intemperance,"  and  in  a 
•'public  and  agravated  manner,"  the  report  of  which  "  spread 
far  and  wide."^*^  The  report  went  to  England  in  one  of  these  ♦ 
letters  to  John  Thornton,  Esq.,  the  Indian's  true  friend.  This 
benevolent  gentleman  made  a  reply,  which  could  not  have  been 

'•'  MS.  Rec.  Suffolk  Presbytery. 

•-:"  Wheelock  Papers,  Letts.  Nov.  9.  1770,  and  June  20.  1771. 


DARK  DAYS  AT  MO  H EG  AN  1 65 

altogether  agreeable  to  Doctor  VVheelock.  "  I  was  grieved,"  he 
wrote,  "at  what  I  heard  of  Mr.  Occom.  Indeed,  I  fear  he  had 
hard  usage  and  that  drove  him  into  the  horrid  sin  of  drinking. 
Pray  my  dear  Sir,  use  him  tenderly,  for  1  am  much  mistaken 
if  his  heart  is  not  right  with  God."^^  David  McClure  made  a 
somewhat  similar  remark,  when  he  suggested  to  Doctor  Whee- 
lock  that  Occom  had  been  neglected.  "The  Crimes  of  intem- 
perance," he  wrote,  "with  which  he  has  been  charged  are  very 
much  extenuated  by  the  temptations  he  was  under."  ^'^  The 
Lebanon  minister  has  left  no  evidence,  unfortunately,  that  he 
did  deal  tenderly  with  the  Indian  in  this  matter.  He  wrote  him 
reproachful  letters,  he  magnified  his  fault,  and  himself  spread 
the  report  of  it.  This  was  his  excuse — he  had,  the  year  be- 
fore, lost  faith  in  some  of  his  boy  schoolmasters  for  the  same 
reason,  and  was  easily  persuaded  that  there  was  no  good  in 
them.  Occom's  fall  was  his  final  reason  for  turning  to  the 
whites. 

We  do  not  know  that  this  Indian  minister  was  ever  again 
guilty  of  taking  too  much  spirituous  liquor,  though  he  often 
went  all  day  without  food.  He  certainly  was  never  in  the 
habit  of  drinking.  He  says  "  he  was  too  poor  to  provide  for 
his  family  anything  but  the  plainest  food  and  they  drank  only 
cold  water  with  occasionally  a  little  beer."  He  did  not  "re- 
lapse into  some  of  the  worst  habits  of  his  tribe,"  as  has  been 
charged.  The  suspicion,  however,  followed  him  to  the  close 
of  his  life.  It  is  known  that  his  enemies  kept  it  alive.  Years 
afterwards,-  when  he  was  ministering  to  his  Indian  church  in 
New  Stockbridge,  this  report  seems  to  have  come  to  the  notice 
of  the  Presbytery  of  Albany,  of  which  he  was  then  a  member. 
"March  ist  1791  a  letter  was  sent  to  Mr.  Occom  requiring 
him  to  state  his  reasons  for  not  attending  Presbytery  and  he 
was  warned  that  in  case  of  failure  his  name  would  be  striken 

21  Wheelock  Papers,    Lett.  April  26,  1771. 
2-  Ibid.,  Lett.  June  ^o,  1772. 


1 66  SAMSON  OCCOM 

from  the  roll."  ^^  His  reason  was  that  he  was  too  poor  to  make 
the  long  journey.  But  this  action  probably  concealed  an  in- 
quiry into  rumors  which  had  reached  them  concerning  his 
intemperance.  We  find  in  the  manuscript  diary  of  Samuel 
Kirkland,  under  date  August  lo,  1791,  the  following  entry: 
"Visited  by  Rev"^  Mr.  Lindley  member  of  the  Presbytery  of 
Albany,  who  was  sent  by  that  body  to  enquire  into  some  in- 
stances of  misconduct  reported  concerning  Mr.  Occom  :  par- 
ticularly the  sin  which  most  easily  besets  poor  Indians."  "^  A 
thorough  inquiry  was  made  into  this  matter  by  Mr.  Lindley  on 
the  ground,  but  he  found  nothing  to  report  at  all  detrimental 
to  Mr.  Occom  ;  and  on  the  eighth  of  September  the  Presbytery 
gave  assurances  of  their  confidence  in  him,  by  directing  his 
ministrations  in  his  little  church  among  the  Indians.  We  have 
some  light  on  this  case  in  this  characteristic  of  the  man — he 
was  given  to  humiliations  by  his  temperament.  If  on  any 
occasion  his  conscience  smote  him  for  misconduct,  which 
others  less  sensitive  would  have  passed  by,  he  thought  it  mete 
to  shrive  his  soul  in  confession.  In  "  despondencies,  discom- 
forts and  almost  desperations,"  he  says,  he  thus  found  some 
peace  and  resignation  to  the  will  of  God.  Thus  in  the  disci- 
pline of  humility  he  strove  to  subdue  that  Indian  nature  which 
he  was  always  conscious  of  possessing.  There  are  abundant 
evidences  of  his  victory,  and  testimonials  of  his  subsequent 
good  character.  ''In  his  latter  years  his  life  is  said  to  have 
been  entirely  exemplary."  ^^ 

Here  is  the  lesson  which  the  history  of  Indian -civilization 
so  clearly  teaches.  The  curse  of  the  race  is  rum.  In  those 
days  of  old,  when  drinking  was  a  universal  custom,  the  Indian 
was  unintentionally  tempted  by  his  friends.  He  could  not  be 
a    moderate    drinker — it    was    a    constitutional    impossibility. 

^3  MS.  Records  of  Pres.  of  Albany. 

"^^  MS.  Diary  of  Kirkland,  in  possession  of  Mr.  Thornton  K.  Lothrop. 

^5  Sprague's  Annals,  III,  194,  195. 


DARK  DAYS  AT  MO  H  EG  AN  167 

The  white  man  could  take  his  dram  three  times  a  day  and  be 
sober ;  when  the  Indian  took  it  once  his  blood  was  set  on  fire. 
VVe  shall  see  how  this  experience  of  Samson  Occom  prepared 
him  to  preach  the  greatest  temperance  sermon  ever  delivered 
to  the  Indian  race. 

The  dark  days  at  Mohegan  passed  away.  The  Indian  rr;in- 
ister's  friends  across  the  sea  still  had  confidence  in  him.  Their 
letters  greatly  cheered  him.  When  they  learned  of  his  straits 
they  generously  came  to  his  assistance.  The  faith  of  his  old 
patron  was  restored.  Doctor  Wheelock  saw  afterwards  that 
he  had  been  so  depressed  over  the  young  prodigal,  Joseph 
Johnson,  that  he  had  quite  forgotten  the  elder  son,  David  Fow- 
ler, and  his  brother  Jacob,  too,  who  had  stood  amid  all  dis- 
couragements. One  of  the  fruits  of  Occom's  labors  at  Mohe- 
gan in  those  dark  days  was  a  revival  among  the  Indians  there- 
abouts in  which  this  prodigal  came  home.  As  Occom  ministered 
there,  possibly  to  a  church  he  had  formed,-^  there  was  an 
awakening  of  new  life.  Meetings  were  held  in  other  Indian 
settlements.  Rev.  Samuel  Ashbow,  himself,  we  suspect, 
restored  to  a  sober  life,  was  a  prominent  exhorter  in  them — 
preaching  with  vigor  on  "The  voice  in  the  wilderness,"  and 
"inviting  all  to  set  their  minds  heavenward."  Some  of  the 
converts  were  old  pupils  in  the  Lebanon  school.  Joseph 
Johnson,  since  his  desertion  of  the  cause  in  the  autumn  of 
1768,  had  led  an  abandoned  life.  In  the  winter  following  he 
was  at  Providence. '^^  Then  he  went  on  a  whaling  voyage — 
"  wandering  up  and  down  in  this  delusive  world."  He  visited 
the  West  Indies  and  other  distant  parts.  At  last  he  returned 
to  Mohegan,  being  then  only  twenty-one  years  of  age.  Here 
he  worked  for  a  year  on  the  lands  of  his  uncle,   Zachary  John- 

2"  Occom  makes  references  to  certain  Indians  as  church-members,  who  were  not 
connected  with  the  North  Church  of  New  London.  Henry  Quaquaquid  is  called  a 
"deacon."     We  find  no  records  of  such  a  church.     It  probably  did  not  survive  long. 

-'Dartmouth  College  Library  has  his  Prayer-Book  [Lawrence  Classe,  1715] 
inscribed  with  his  name  and  the  address  "  Providence  Dec.  28,  1768." 


1 68  SAMSOA'  O  ceo  AT 

son,  with  whom  his  sister  also  lived.  He  was  one  of  the  first 
to  be  awakened  in  this  religious  interest.  On  the  thirteenth  of 
November,  1771,  he  tells  us,  he  turned  anew  to  the  Scriptures 
and  began  to  call  on  the  name  of  the  Lord."^^  So  he  returned 
to  the  life  he  had  been  taught  to  live  in  the  Indian  Charity 
School.  His  spiritual  father,  who  was  so  distressed  by  his  fall, 
lived  to  see  him  approved  as  a  missionary  to  the  Indians  and 
to  mourn  his  early  death. 

The  sorrowful  experience  which  Doctor  Wheelock  had  with 
his  Indian  pupils  was  nothing  new.  John  Eliot  had  similar 
discouragements.  Wherever  since  Indian  missions  have  been 
attempted,  some  who  have  been  well-instructed  and  have 
promised  allegiance  to  the  Christian  religion,  have  been  swept 
away  by  the  temptations  of  Indian  life.  The  subsequent  envi- 
ronment of  the  educated  Indian  has  never  been  enough  con- 
sidered. At  the  same  time  it  is  true  that  the  good  seed  has 
not  utterly  perished,  even  though  it  has  seemed  to  fail.  After 
the  Hood  has  passed,  the  shoots  have  become  green  again  and 
they  have  grown  to  a  harvest. 

2**  Wheelock  Papers.     Fragmentary  account  of  his  life.     See  Allen's  Biog.  Diet. 


CHAPTER   X 

occOxM's  sermon,  hymns  and  hymn  book 

I772--I774 

An  unusual  congregation  was  gathered  on  the  second  of 
September,  1772,  in  the  brick  meeting-house  of  the  FirstChurch 
in  New  Haven.  The  occasion  was  the  preaching  of  a  sermon 
by  Rev.  Samson  Occom  at  the  request  of  Moses  Paul,  an 
Indian,  who  on  that  day  was  to  be  executed  for  murder. 
Although  the  weather  was  very  stormy,  the  place  was  crowded 
to  its  utmost  capacity.  As  there  had  not  been  a  hanging  in 
that  town  for  twenty-three  years,  the  event  was  somewhat 
novel  ;  but  many  had  come  expecting  to  hear  from  the  dis- 
tinguished Indian  preacher  a  sermon  to  his  race  appropriate  to 
such  a  solemn  day.  Lawyers  and  judges  were  present,  having 
more  than  a  professional  interest  in  the  case.  Ministers  had 
gathered  from  all  the  region  round  about.  But  most  conspic- 
uous in  the  assembly  were  the  Indians,  who  had  come  from 
great  distances  and  all  quarters.  It  was,  in  fact,  the  cause  of 
a  general  meeting  of  representatives  from  the  decaying  tribes 
of  southern  New  England,  and  the  last,  as  though  they  had 
come  to  attend  the  funeral  of  their  race.  Surely  the  event  was 
appropriate  for  such  a  service — the  execution  of  an  Indian 
who  had  committed  murder  in  his  drunkenness — for  rum  more 
than  war  or  pestilence  had  wasted  them  to  pitiful  numbers. 

Moses  Paul  was  born  at  Barnstable,  Mass.,  in  1742,  whither 
his  parents  had  come  from  Martha's  Vineyard.  His  father 
died  in  1745,  at  the  siege  of  Louisburg,  and  the  widowed 
mother  had  been  one  of  the  Christian  Indians  who  attended 
the  Barnstable   church.     When   Moses   was  five  years  old   he 

169 


170  SAMSON  OCCOM 

was  bound  out  as  an  apprentice  to  Mr.  John  Manning  of 
Windham,  Conn.,  who  gave  him  good  instruction  in  religion. 
In  due  time  he  enlisted  and  served,  in  Israel  Putnam's  com- 
pany in  the  French  and  Indian  war.  Afterwards  he  was  a 
sailor  on  a  man-of-war  ship  and  in  the  merchant  service  for 
several  years.  At  last,  wearying  of  this  employment,  he 
returned  to  Connecticut  and  led  an  idle,  vagabond  life.  The 
crime  for  which  he  was  to  be  hanged  was  committed  Decem- 
ber 7,  1771,  at  Clark's  tavern  in  Bethany.  A  contemporary 
newspaper  gives  the  following  account : 

New  Haven,  Dec.  9. — I>ast  Saturday  evening  Mr.  Moses  Cook,  of 
Waterbury,  being  at  Mr.  Clark's  tavern  in  Bethany,  where  there  was  an 
Indian  named  Moses  Paul,  who  had  behaved  so  disorderly  (on  Mrs.  Clark's 
refusing  to  let  him  have  a  dram)  that  he  was  turned  out  of  doors,  when  he 
swore  to  be  fevenged  on  some  one  person  in  the  house  ;  and  Mr.  Cook 
going  out  soon  after,  received  from  the  Indian  (who  'tis  supposed  lay  in 
wait  near  the  house,  in  order  to  put  his  threat  in  execution)  a  violent  blow 
on  his  head,  with  some  weapon,  that  broke  his  scull  ni  so  terrible  a  manner, 
that  he  died  of  the  wound  last  night.  The  Indian  was  apprehended  and 
conmiitted  to  the  gaol  in  this  town  last  Sunday.  ^ 

The  Indian  was  tried  in  the  Superior  Court  at  New  Haven, 
found  guilty  and  sentenced  to  be  hanged.  During  his  impris- 
onment he  received  faithful  ministrations  from  the  ministers 
of  the  town;  but  he  naturally  turned  to  the  man  of  his  own 
race  upon  whom  the  Indians  generally  had  come  to  look  as 
their  friend  in  trouble.  Some  time  before  the  execution  day 
it  was  known  that  Occom  would  preach  the  sermon  according 
to  an  ancient  custom.  So  the  throng  had  gathered  out  of  curi- 
osity or  to  hear  him — a  solemn  congregation  within  the  meet- 
ing-house and  a  crowd  without.  The  condemned  man,  sur- 
rounded by  his  guards,  was  brought  into  his  presence  and  the 
service  began.  Occom  took  for  his  text  the  words  "For  the 
wages   of   sin    is   death  ;    but   the   gift  of  God    is   eternal    life 

1  New  London  Gazette,  Dec.  20,  1771.  Moses  Cook  was  the  eldest  son  of  Samuel 
Cook  of  Wallingford,  and  a  man  much  respected.     Hist.  Waterbury  I.  A  pp.  p.  40. 


OCCOXrS  SERMON,  HYMNS  AND   HYMN-BOOK       171 

through  Jesus  Christ  our  Lord  "  [Rom.  6  :  23].  After  devel- 
oping the  two  propositions,  "that  sin  is  the  cause  of  all  the 
miseries  that  befall  the  children  of  men,  both  as  to  their  bodies 
and  souls  for  time  and  eternity,"  and  "that  eternal  life  and 
happiness  is  the  free  gift  of  God,  through  Jesus  Christ  our 
Lord,"  he  addressed  in  turn  the  criminal,  the  ministers  and 
the  assembled  Indians.  His  words  to  his  own  people  are  per- 
tinent to  our  study.  For  that  reason  and  because  they  fur- 
nish us  a  good  example  of  his  composition  they  are  given  in 
full. 

My  poor  kindred, 

You  see  the  vvoful  consequences  of  sin,  by  seeing  this  our  poor  miserable 
country-man  now  before  us,  who  is  to  die  this  day  for  his  sins  and  great 
wickedness.  And  it  was  the  sin  of  drunkenness  that  has  brought  this  de- 
struction and  untimely  death  upon  him.  There  is  a  dreadful  woe  denounced 
from  the  Almighty  against  drunkards:  and  it  is  this  sin,  this  abominable, 
this  beastly  and  accursed  sin  of  drunkenness,  that  has  stript  us  of  every 
desirable  comfort  in  this  life;  by  this  we  are  poor,  miserable  and  wretched; 
by  this  sin  we  have  no  name  nor  credit  in  the  world  among  polite  nations; 
for  this  sin  we  are  despised  in  the  world,  and  it  is  all  right  and  just,  for  we 
despise  ourselves  more,  and  if  we  do  not  regard  ourselves,  who  will  regard 
us .''  And  it  is  for  our  sins,  and  especially  for  that  accursed,  that  most  hateful 
sin  of  drunkenness  that  we  suffer  every  day.  For  the  love  of  strong  drink 
we  spend  all  that  we  have,  and  every  thing  we  can  get.  By  this  sin  we  can- 
not have  comfortable  houses,  nor  any  thing  comfortable  in  our  houses ; 
neither  food  nor  raiment,  nor  decent  utensils.  We  are  obliged  to  put  up 
any  sort  of  shelter  just  to  screen  us  from  the  severity  of  the  weather;  and 
we  go  about  with  very  mean,  ragged  and  dirty  clothes,  almost  naked.  And 
we  are  half  starved,  for  most  of  the  time  obliged  to  pick  up  any  thing  to 
eat.  And  our  poor  children  are  suffering  every  day  for  want  of  the  neces- 
saries of  life ;  they  are  very  often  crying  for  want  of  food,  and  we  have 
nothing  to  give  them ;  and  in  the  cold  weather  they  are  shivering  and  cry- 
ing, being  pinched  with  the  cold— All  this  is  for  the  love  of  strong  drink. 
And  this  is  not  all  the  misery  and  evil  we  bring  on  ourselves  in  this  world; 
but  when  we  are  intoxicated  with  strong  drink,  we  drown  our  rational  pow- 
ers, by  which  we  are  distinguished  from  the  brutal  creation;  we  unman  our- 
selves, and  bring  ourselves  not  only  level  with  the  beasts  of  the  field,  but 
seven  degrees  beneath  them;  yea,  we  bring  ourselves  level  with  the  devils; 
I  do  not  know  but  we  make  ourselves  worse  than  the  devils,  for  I  never 
heard  of  drunken  devils. 


172  SAJl/SOA'  OCCOM 

My  poor  kindred,  do  consider  what  a  dreadful  abominable  sin  drunken- 
ness is.  God  made  us  men,  and  we  chuse  to  be  beasts  and  devils;  God 
made  us  rational  creatures,  and  we  chuse  to  be  fools.  Do  consider  further, 
and  behold  a  drunkard,  and  see  how  he  looks,  when  he  has  drowned  his 
reason;  how  deformed  and  shameful  does  he  appear?  He  disfigures  every 
part  of  him,  both  soul  and  body,  which  was  made  after  the  image  of  God. 
He  appears  with  awful  deformity,  and  his  whole  visage  is  disfigured;  if  he 
attempts  to  speak  he  cannot  bring  out  his  words  distinct,  so  as  to  be  under- 
stood; if  he  walks  he  reels  and  staggers  to  and  fro,  and  tumbles  down. 
And  see  how  he  behaves,  he  is  now  laughing,  and  then  he  is  crying  ;  he  is 
singing,  and  the  next  minute  he  is  mourning;  and  is  all  love  to  every  one, 
and  anon  he  is  raging,  and  for  fighting,  and  killing  all  before  him,  even  the 
nearest  and  the  dearest  relations  and  friends :  Yea  nothing  is  too  bad  for  a 
drunken  man  to  do.  He  will  do  that  which  he  would  not  do  for  the  world, 
in  his  right  mind. 

Further,  when  a  person  is  drunk,  he  is  just  good  for  nothing  in  the  world  ; 
he  is  of  no  service  to  himself,  to  his  family,  to  his  neighbours,  or  his  coun- 
try ;  and  how  much  more  unfit  is  he  to  serve  God  :  yet  he  is  just  as  fit  for 
the  service  of  the  devil. 

Again,  a  man  in  drunkenness  is  in  all  manner  of  dangers,  he  may  be  killed 
by  his  fellow-men,  by  wild  beasts,  and  tame  beasts;  he  may  fall  into  the 
fire,  into  the  water,  or  into  a  ditch ;  or  he  may  fall  down  as  he  walks  along, 
and  break  his  bones  or  his  neck ;  he  may  cut  himself  with  edge  tools. 
Further  if  he  has  any  money  or  any  thing  valuable,  he  may  lose  it  all,  or 
may  be  robbed,  or  he  may  make  a  foolish  bargain,  and  be  cheated  out  of 
all  he  has. 

I  believe  you  know  the  truth  of  what  I  have  just  now  said,  many  of  you, 
by  sad  experience  ;  yet  you  will  go  on  still  in  your  drunkenness.  Though  you 
have  been  cheated  over  and  over  again,  and  you  have  lost  your  substance  by 
drunkenness,  yet  you  will  venture  to  go  on  in  this  most  destructive  sin.  O 
fools  when  will  ye  be  wise  t  We  all  know  the  truth  of  what  I  have  been  say- 
ing, by  what  we  have  seen  and  heard  of  drunken  deaths.  How  many  have 
been  drowned  in  our  rivers,  and  how  many  have  been  frozen  to  death  in  the 
winter  seasons  !  yet  drunkards  go  on  without  fear  and  consideration  :  alas, 
alas !  What  will  become  of  all  such  drunkards?  Without  doubt  they  must 
all  go  to  hell,  except  they  truly  repent  and  turn  to  God.  Drunkenness  is 
so  common  amongst  us,  that  even  our  young  men  and  young  women  are 
not  ashamed  to  get  drunk.  Our  young  men  will  get  drunk  as  soon  as  they 
will  eat  when  they  are  hungry.  It  is  generally  esteemed  amongst  men, 
more  abominable  for  a  woman  to  be  drunk  than  a  man ;  and  yet  there  is 
nothing  more  common  amongst  us  than  female  drunkards.  Women  ought 
to  be  more  modest  than  men;  the  holy  scriptures  recommend  modesty  to 
women  in  particular:  but  drunken  women  have  no  modesty  at  all.     It  is 


OCCOM'S  SERMON,   HYMNS  AND    HYMN  BOOK      1 73 

more  intolerable  for  a  woman  to  get  drunk,  if,  we  consider  further,  that  she 
IS  in  great  danger  of  falling  into  the  hands  of  the  sons  of  l^elial,  or  wicked 
men,  and  bein^j  shamefully  treated  by  them. 

And  here  I  cannot  but  observe,  we  find  in  sacred  writ,  a  woe  denounced 
against  men,  who  put  their  bottles  to  their  neighbours  mouth  to  make  them 
drunk,  that  they  may  see  their  nakedness :  and  no  doubt  there  are  such 
devilish  men  now  in  our  day,  as  there  were  in  the  days  of  old. 

And  to  conclude,  consider  my  poor  kindred,  you  that  are  drunkards,  into 
what  a  miserable  condition  you  have  brought  yourselves.  There  is  a  dread- 
ful woe  thundering  against  you  every  day,  and  the  Lord  says,  that  drunkards 
shall  not  inherit  the  kingdom  of  God. 

And  now  let  me  exhort  you  all  to  break  off  from  your  drunkenness,  by  a 
gospel  repentance,  and  believe  on  the  Lord  Jesus  and  you  shall  be  saved. 
Take  warning  by  this  doleful  sight  before  us,  and  by  all  the  dreadful  judg- 
ments that  have  befallen  poor  drunkards.  O  let  us  all  reform  our  lives, 
and  live  as  becomes  dying  creatures,  in  time  to  come.  Let  us  be  persuaded 
that  we  are  accountable  creatures  to  God,  and  we  must  be  called  to  an  ac- 
count in  a  few  days.  You  that  have  been  careless  all  your  days,  now  awake 
to  righteousness,  and  be  concerned  for  your  poor  and  never  dying  souls. 
Fight  against  all  sins,  and  especially  the  sin  that  easily  besets  you,  and  be- 
have in  time  to  come  as  becomes  rational  creatures;  and  above  all  things, 
receive  and  believe  on  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and  yau  shall  have  eternal 
life;  and  when  you  come  to  die,  your  souls  will  be  received  into  heaven, 
there  to  be  with  the  Lord  Jesus  in  eternal  happiness,  and  with  all  the  saints 
in  glory;  which  God  of  his  infinite  mercy  grant,  through  Jesus  Christ  our 
Lord.     Amen. 

After  the  service  Occom  accompanied  the  condemned  man 
to  his  execution.  The  following  is  the  newspaper  account  of 
the  affair  : 

New  Haven,  September  4.  Last  Wednesday,  Moses  Paul  was  e.xecuted 
agreeable  to  his  Sentence,  about  a  Mile  from  this  Town.  The  Rev.  Mr. 
Occom,  preached  a  Sermon,  previous  to  the  Execution,  in  the  Brick  Meet- 
ing House,  from  Rom.  vi.  23,  and  attended  the  Criminal  to  the  Place  of 
Execution,  where  he  made  a  short  but  well  adapted  Prayer  to  the  Occasion. 
The  Criminal  behaved  with  Decency  and  Steadiness,  and  appeared  to  be  in 
the  Exercise  of  fervent  Prayer  all  the  Way  from  the  Gaol  to  the  Gallows. 
A  little  while  before  he  was  turn'd  off  he  took  a  most  affectionate  Leave  of 
his  Countrymen  the  Indians,  (many  of  whom  were  present)  and  exhorted 
them  to  shun  those  Vices  to  which  they  are  so  much  addicted,  viz.  Drunk- 
enness, Revenge  &c.     He  acknowledged  that  he  kill'd  Mr.  Cook,  though 


174  SAMSON  OCCOM 

not  with  a  Flat  Iron,  as  was  supposed,  but  with  a  Club.  Notwithstanding 
the  Day  was  verj'  stormy,  there  was  a  very  great  Concourse  of  People, 
whose  Curiosity  was  as  much  excited  to  hear  Mr.  Occom  preach,  as  to  see 
the  Execution,  altho'  there  has  not  been  one  in  this  Town  since  the 
Year  1749.^ 

As  to  the  sermon,  it  was  exceedingly  well  received  and  made 
a  deep  impression.  Temperance  sermons  were  scarce  in 
those  days  and  in  some  quarters  wholly  unknown.  In  this 
respect  it  had  a  unique  interest,  especially  as  applicable  to  the 
Indians.  The  Coimecticiit  Coiwaiit  commended  its  "honest 
simplicity  and  Gospel  sincerity  "  and  of  the  conclusion  said  : 
"  The  Plainness  of  Speech  to  his  Brother  Indians  against  the 
Sin  of  Drunkenness  is  striking,  and  his  address  to  the  Indian 
that  was  then  to  be  executed  very  affecting."^  There  was  at 
once  a  demand  for  the  publication  of  the  sermon,  to  which 
Occom  reluctantly  yielded.  The  first  edition  was  issued 
October  31,  1772,  from  the  press  of  Thomas  and  Samuel 
Green  at  New  Haven. ^  This  was  soon  exhausted.  So  general 
was  the  demand  that  a  second  edition  was  issued  before 
November  thirteenth  by  Timothy  Green  of  New  London,  who 
also  advertised  "the  third  edition,"  December  fourth,  and  "the 
fourth  edition,"  January  twenty-second  following,  in  the  New 
London  Gazette.  Many  other  editions  were  afterwards  printed, 
at  Hartford,  Boston,  Salem,  Bennington,  Vt,  Exeter,  N.  H., 
Springfield,  Northampton,  and  London,  England.  Thirty-five 
years  after  Samson  Occom's  death  it  was  translated  into  the 
Welsh  language  and  an  edition  issued  at  Caernarson,  Wales. 
There  may  have  been  others  which  we  have  not  met  with  or 
seen  noted  by  bibliographers.  Surely  a  sermon  which  went 
through  at  least  nineteen  editions  has  some  claim  to  fame.*^  Of 

^  New  Lojidon  Gazette,  Sept.  11,  1772. 

3  Conn.  Courant,  Feb.  9  and  16,  1773- 

*  Advertisement  in  Conn.  Courant,  Oct.  20  and  Nov.  3,  1772. 

5  We  note  the  following  editions;  (i)  New  Haven;  T.  &  S.  Green,  n.  d.  [Oct., 
1772]  8'^  pp.  32.  [Has  unabridged  preface,  and  without  the  "  Dialogue''  or  sketch 
of  Paul.]     (2)   New  London;  T.Green,  n.  d.   [Nov.,  1772]  S"    pp.  23  (i).     [Has 


OCCOM'S  SEA' MO  A',   HYMNS  AND   HYMN  BOOK     1 75 

course,  its  Indian  authorship  and  the  occasion  had  more  to  do 
with  its  popularity  than  its  homiletic  merits.  Occom  had  an 
extensive  acquaintance  among  the  English,  who  were  inter- 
ested to  procure  the  only  sermon  which  he  had  published.  So 
far  as  we  know  this  is  the  only  printed  sermon  of  that  time 
preached  by  an  Indian.  This  is,  however,  in  its  simplicity 
and  directness,  a  good  illustration  of  Occom's  manner  of  dis- 
coursing. He  never  builded  any  great  sermons.  In  his  ordi- 
nary treatment  of  religious  themes,  especially  in  his  later  years, 
he  made  use  of  more  similes  and  stories,  interrupting  his  dis- 
course by  such  illustrations.  To  this  his  popularity  was 
largely  due,  and  many  people  admired  these  features  in  him 
who  would  have  disapproved  the  same  in  their  own  minis- 
ters. 

This  tragic  incident  in  the  Indian  minister's  life  had  a 
decided  influence  upon  him.  It  quickened  his  zeal  in  behalf 
of  the  degenerate  of  his  race.  He  labored  more  industri- 
ously to  suppress  the  traffic  in  intoxicating  liquors  among  thfe 
Indians,  in  which  he  was  in  advance  of  his  times.     More  than 

unabridged  preface,  and  without  the  "  DiaIo,s;ue,"  but  has  sketch  of  Paul.]  (3)  New 
L-ondon  ;  T.  Green,  1772  [Dec],  8"  pp.  23  (1).  (4)  New  London;  T.  Green,  1772, 
S'l  pp.  23(1).  [Printed  in  January,  1773,  though  the  date  on  title-page  was  un- 
changed.] (5)  Hartford;  Reprinted  and  sold  by  Ebenezer  Watson,  n.  d.  [Feb., 
1773] '40  pp.  22  (2).  (6)  Boston;  Printed  for  and  Sold  by  Seth  Adams,  Hartford 
Post,  1773,  S"  PP-  31  (0-  (7)  Boston;  J.  Boyles,  1773,  ^"  PP-  Z'^-  (^^  Boston; 
'^1Th'>  S"  pp. '22  (2)  [Sabin].  (g)  Salem;  1773,  8"  pp.  31.  (10)  Boston;  Eldad 
Hunter,  1774,  8'^'  pp.  24  [Sabin].  (11)  Springfield;  Henry  Brewer,  n.  d.  8"  pp.  26 
[Sabin].  (12)  London;  Reprinted,  1788,  S'--  pp.  24.  [With  Edwards's  "Observa- 
tions on  the  Language  of  the  Muhhekaneew  Indians."  Has  "  Advertisement "  by 
L  Rippon,  preface  abridged,  "  Difiiogue  "  and  appendix  on  Samuel  Kirkland.J  (13) 
London  ;  Reprinted  1789,  8°  pp.  24.  [Like  preceding,  except  that  the  error  in  date 
of  Occom's  visit  to  England,  given  as  1776  and  1777,  is  corrected.]  (14)  Bennington  : 
William  Watson,  n.  d.  So  pp.  14  (i).  [Sabin.]  (15)  N.  P.  178-,  8-  pp.  24.  [Sabin.] 
(16)  Northampton;  t8oi,  8".  [Brinley  Coll.  No.  5478.]  (17)  Exeter;  Printed  for 
Josiah  Richardson,  the  Lord's  Messenger  to  the  People,  1819,  12"  pp.  22.  (18) 
"  Indian  Eloquence,  A  Sermon,  etc.,"  n.  p.  Reprinted  July  17,  1820,  80  pp.  24.  (19) 
Caernarson  :  Argraphwyd  gan  L.  E.  Jones,  Dros  Evan  Evans,  1827,  sm.  8"  pp.  44. 
[Reprinted  from  London  edition  of  1788.  A  copy  was  presented  to  the  Conn.  Hist. 
Soc.  in  1896,  by  B.  F.  Lewis,  Utica,  N.  Y.     See  Utica  Herald,  Jan.  14,  1896.] 


176  SAMSON  OCCOM 

ever  before  he  felt  his  own  responsibility  as  their  representa- 
tive, and  realized  that  nothing  remained  in  New  England  for 
his  people  except  to  decline  under  the  terrible  sway  of  vice 
and  finally  die  amid  the  graves  of  their  fathers. 

We  may  as  well  just  here  make  record  of  this  Indian's 
opinion  as  to  slavery.  At  that  time  most  wealthy  families  in 
New  England  held  slaves.  The  ministers  very  commonly  had 
one  or  more  blacks  as  servants  in  their  households,  and  the 
servant  class  being  then  small  they  could  hardly  do  without 
them.  Doctor  Wheelock  himself,  in  1757,  paid  ^50  for  a  negro, 
"  Ishmael "  by  name,  whom  he  bought  from  William  Clark 
of  Plymouth,  Mass.  The  Indian  of  the  full  blood  generally 
despised  the  negro  and  such  of  his  own  race  as  would  marry 
among  them.  It  was  Occom's  opinion  that  such  marriages 
wrought  degeneracy  in  both  races.  At  the  same  time  he  had 
a  warm  sympathy  for  the  slave,  whose  estate  was  not  always 
pleasant  or  respectable,  even  in  New  England.  Who  would 
think  to  find  in  Samson  Occom  an  abolitionist  ?  Such,  how- 
ever, he  was.  He  lifted  up  his  voice  boldly  for  emancipation 
seventy  years  before  Uncle  Tom's  Cabin  was  written.  In  one 
of  his  discourses  he  made  the  following  pointed  application  on 
the  subject  referring  to  slaveholders  : 

I  will  tell  who  they  are,  they  are  the  Preachers  or  ministers  of  the  Gospel 
of  Jesus  Christ.  It  has  been  very  fashionable  for  them  to  keep  Negroe 
Slaves,  which  I  think  is  inconsistent  with  their  character  and  function.  Tf 
I  understand  the  Gospel  aright,  I  think  it  is  a  Dispensation  of  Freedom 
and  Liberty,  both  Temporal  and  Spiritual,  and  [if]  the  Preachers  of  the  Holy 
Gospel  of  Jesus  do  preach  it  according  to  the  mind  of  God,  they  Preach 
True  Liberty  and  how  can  such  keep  Negroes  in  Slavery?  And  if  Minis- 
ters are  True  Liberty  men,  let  them  preach  Liberty  for  the  poor  Negroes 
fervently  and  with  great  zeal,  and  those  Ministers  who  have  Negroes  set  an 
Example  before  their  Peojjle  by  freeing  their  Negroes,  let  them  show  their 
Faith  by  their  Works.'"' 

The  success  of  the  publication  of  Occom's  execution  ser- 
mon may  have  encouraged  him  to  undertake  another  venture 

''  MS.  in  Conn.  Hist.  Soc,  Indian  Papers. 


OCCOM'S  SERMON,   HYMNS  AND   HYMN  BOOK      1 77 

— the  printing  of  a  "  Collection  of  Hymns  and  Spiritual 
Songs."  This  introduces  a  subject  of  much  interest,  for 
Occom  is  himself  included  among  the  hymn-writers  of  New 
England.  Indeed  he  has  been  known  chiefly  as  the  author  of 
a  familiar  hymn,  found  in  many  modern  collections  but  now 
going  out  of  use — "Awaked  by  Sinai's  awful  sound." 

Several  facts  should  preface  a  consideration  of  this  subject. 
The  Indians  of  New  England  were  in  a  way  a  poetic  and 
musical  people.  They  delighted  in  figures  of  speech  and  com- 
monly used  them.  As  to  their  music,  without  discussing  it, 
we  can  at  least  say  they  were  fond  of  it,  for  Winslow  relates 
how  "  they  vse  to  sing  themselves  asleepe  "  with  "barbarous 
singing."^  There  was  a  tradition  among  the  Narragansett 
Indians  that  a  certain  tune  "was  heard  in  the  air  by  them, 
and  other  tribes  bordering  on  the  Atlantic  coast,  many  years 
before  the  arrival  of  the  whites  in  America;  and  that  on  their 
first  visiting  a  church  in  Plymouth  Colony,  after  the  settle- 
ment of  that  place  by  the  whites,  the  same  tune  was  sung 
while  performing  divine  service,  and  the  Indians  knew  it  as 
well  as  the  whites."  Thomas  Commuck,  himself  a  Narragan- 
sett Indian,  who  records  this  tradition,  has  preserved  the  tune 
in  his  collection  of  "Indian  Melodies,"  under  the  name  "Old 
Indian  Hymn,"  with  the  words  to  which  the  Brothertown 
Indians  were  accustomed  to  sing  it.  However  incredible 
this  tradition  may  seem,  it  illustrates  the  fact  that  the  Chris- 
tian Indians  were  influenced  by  the  psalm-singing  of  the 
English.  John  Eliot's  converts  adopted  the  practice  and 
delighted  in  it.  The  Psalms  in  meter  were  printed  with  his 
Indian  Bible  in  1663  for  such  use.  Afterwards  the  missionary 
society  distributed  many  copies  of  psalm-books  among  the 
natives  of  southern  New  England.  At  Mohegan  and  other 
Indian  settlements  thereabouts  this  exercise  had  a  prominent 
place  in  their  religious  services.     We  have  already  referred  to 

"^  Mourfs  Relation,  edn.  1865,  p.  109. 
13 


178  SAMSON  OCCOM 

the  singing  of  tlie  pupils  at  the  Indian  Charity  School,  and 
from  other  sources  we  learn  that  some  advance  had  been 
made  among  some  there  in  the  study  of  music.  It  was  but 
natural,  therefore,  that  Samson  Occom,  who  is  said  to  have 
been  a  good  singer  himself,  and  acquainted  with  music,  being 
persuaded  that  his  people  would  find  greater  pleasure  in  the 
spiritual  songs  which  were  then  coming  into  general  use, 
should  conclude  to  prepare  a  collection  in  part  for  his 
Christian  Indians. 

We  judge  that  he  received  his  impulse  in  this  work  during 
his  visit  to  England.  He  was  there  associated  with  Rev. 
George  Whitefield,  who  had  a  decided  preference  for  such 
hymns.  Moreover,  he  met  there  most  of  the  hymn-writers  of 
the  time,  some  of  them  intimate  friends  of  the  Countess  of 
Huntingdon.  What  influences  must  have  surrounded  him  as 
he  preached  in  the  church  at  Northampton,  where  Philip 
Doddridge  had  ministered,  or  in  John  Wesley's  foundry!  He 
was  entertained  by  John  Newton  of  Olney,  and  by  Thomas 
Gibbons,  the  biographer  of  Isaac  Watts.  It  is  certain  that  he 
preached  in  the  pulpits  of  Martin  Madan,  Samuel  Stennett, 
Edward  Perronet,  Benjamin  Beddome  and  other  well-known 
composers  of  hymns.  The  interest  of  the  Indians  in  this 
subject  may  be  presumed  to  have  been  known  in  England,  as 
in  1767  Mr.  Knap  sent  over  to  Doctor  Wheelock  some  copies 
of  his  collection  of  tunes — one  for  Samuel  Kirkland,  and 
another  for  David  Fowler,  who  were  then  among  the  Oneidas. 
He  had  named  a  new  tune  "  Lebanon,"  in  honor  of  the  school. 
After  Occom's  return,  and  especially  in  1772,  he  was  studying 
hymns  and  hymn-books,  a  number  of  which  he  had  doubtless 
brought  from  England,  as  they  were  used  in  the  preparation 
of  his  own.  Among  these  were  the  collections  of  Watts, 
Wesley,  Whitefield,  Lady  Huntingdon,  Madan,  Mason,  Cen- 
nick  and  Maxwell.  Several  collections  were  issued  while  he 
was  there.     His   interest  seems   to   have   been   known,   for  a 


OCCOM'S  SERMON,   HYMNS  AND   HYMN  BOOK      1 79 

composer  wrote  him  thus:  "Understanding  that  you  know 
music,  T  here  present  you  with  upwards  of  six  score  tunes 
amongst  which  are  several  of  the  Modernest  and  some  of  the 
Pleasantest  that  are  used  in  the  Methodists."^  Probably  he 
received  other  such  gifts.  Thus  his  interest  in  hymnology 
had  been  kindled  by  acquaintance  with  some  of  the  masters. 

The  title  of  his  book  declares  that  it  is  "  Intended  for  the 
Edification  of  sincere  Christians  of  all  Denominations."  In 
the  preface,  also,  he  says  :  "  I  have  taken  no  small  Pains  to 
collect  a  number  of  choice  Hymns,  Psalms  and  Spiritual 
Songs  from  a  number  of  Authors  of  different  Denominations 
of  Christians,  that  every  Christian  may  be  suited."  How 
great  an  expectation  he  had  that  his  book  would  come  into 
general  use,  we  do  not  know.  He  certainly  issued  it  partly 
for  his  Christian  Indians.  The  plan  of  removing  them  to 
Oneida  w^as  then  in  his  mind.  As  he  purposed  to  adopt  and 
teach  the  English  language,  uniting  the  several  tribes  who  still 
spoke  their  Indian  dialects,  he  may  have  thought  the  hymn- 
book  would  aid  him.  The  first  edition  was  issued  in  1774, 
the  year  of  the  attempted  removal;  the  second  in  1785,  the 
year  of  its  accomplishment;  and  the  third  in  1792,  the  year 
of  his  death,  three  weeks  after  the  event  was  known  in  New 
London.  Many  copies  of  the  first  two  editions  must  have 
been  taken  by  the  Indians,  for  they  used  this  collection  both 
before  and  after  the  removal  to  Oneida. 

The  first  notice  we  have  of  the  book  is  in  the  Nezv  Londo7i 
Gazette^  April  i,  1774^  which  makes  the  announcement  that 
"  Mr.  Occom's  Collection  of  Poems  will  be  published  on  Wed- 
nesday next" — the  6th  of  April.  In  the  issue  of  the  same 
paper,  April  8th,  it  is  advertised  as  just  published — "A  choice 
Collection  of  Hymns  and  Spiritual  Songs."  The  difference 
between  the  title  under  which  it  was  announced  and  that  of 
the  title-page  is  to  be  noted.     We  are,  at  least,  prepared  to 

"  Conn.  Hist.  Soc,  Indian  Papers,  Lett.  Thos.  Knibb  to  Occom,  Feb.  8,  1768. 


l8o  SAMSON  OCCOM 

find,  on  a  critical  examination  of  the  contents,  that  some  of 
the  hymns  were  his  own  composition..  All  the  editions,  which 
are  extremely  scarce,  have  the  same  title ;  but  the  third  lacks 
the  preface,  and  has  a  few  unimportant  "additions,"  probably 
made  by  the  printer.^  Occom's  name  was  afterwards  asso- 
ciated with  some  editions  of  Joshua  Smith's  collection.  An 
edition  of  this,  perhaps  the  first,  was  printed  in  1784  at  Nor- 
wich, Conn.,  by  Thomas  Hubbard,  and  later  the  name  of 
"  Samson  Ockum "  appeared  on  the  title-page  with  Joshua 
Smith. 1°  A  critical  examination  of  this  book  shows  that  many 
hymns  in  it  were  taken  from  Occom's  earlier  collection.  Some 
were,  doubtless,  then  known  as  his  composition.  So  far  as  we 
know  he  had  nothing  to  do  with  the  publication  of  this  book, 
many  editions  of  which  were  issued  after  his  death. 

After  the  Brothertown  Indians  had  made  their  second 
removal  from  New  York  to  Wisconsin,  one  of  their  number, 
Thomas  Commuck,  issued  the  "  Indian  Melodies.""  In  this 
he  gathered  the  tunes  and  hymns  which  were  then  in  use 
among  them,  the  harmony  being  furnished  by  Thomas  Hast- 
ings.    He  states,  in  his  preface,  as  one  reason  for  issuing  the 

9(1)  New-London;  ..Timothy  Green,..  M,DCC,LXXIV.  120  pp.  iig.  Con- 
gregational Library.  Mass.  Hist.  Soc,  New  London  Library,  and  Brinley  Coll., 
No.  6022,  $34.  (2)  New-London  ;  ,  .  Timothy  Green,  ..  M,DCC,LXXXV.  120  pp. 
112.  Conn.  Hist.  Soc.,  Hartford  Theol.  Sem.,  and  Brinley  Coll.,  No.  6023,  $26.  (3) 
New  London  ;  Timothy  Green  and  Son,  M,DCC,XCH.  16°  pp.  )i2.  Watkinson  Lib. 
Hartford,  Brinley  Copy,  No.  6024,  J22. 

'0  Divine  Hymns  or  Spiritual  Songs  for  the  use  of  Religious  Assevihlies  and  Pri- 
vate Christiatis.  Norwich,  T.  Hubbard,  T7S4.  [Brinley  Coll.,  No.  6038.]  Other  edi- 
tions were  issued  at  Norwich  by  Wni.  Northrop,  the  8th  in  1797,  the  9th  in  1799 
[Union  Theol.  Sem.],  the  nth  in  1803  [Union  Theol.  Sem. J,  and  the  12th  in  1811 
[Watkinson  Lib.]  A  so-called  6th  edition  was  printed  at  Albany  in  1804,  said  to  be 
by  "Joshua  Smith,  Samson  Ockum  and  others."  [Union  Theol.  Sem.]  Other 
editions  were  printed  at  New  London  in  iSoo,  at  Portland  in  1803,  and  at  Suffield 
in  1805.     [Watkinson  Lib.] 

11  Indian  Melodies^  by  Thomas  Commuck,  a  Narragansett  India7t.  Harmonized 
by  Thomas  Hastings,  Esq.  New  York  :  Published  by  G.  Lane  &  C.  B  Tippett,  for 
the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  200  Mulberry  street.  James  Collord,  Printer,  1845, 
oblong,  pp.  vi,  7-116. 


^.%»-*>f**-<¥|>;-««***-' 


A        CHOICE 

C   O  L   L   E    C    T   I  O    N 

HYMNS 

Spiritual  SONGS; 

Jnteuded  for  tlie  Edification 
of  fincere  Chriftians,  of  all 
Denominations. 

SAMSON  OCCOM, 

MINISTER    OF    THE  G    O  S  P  E  L.     ' 

Both    young    Men    and    Maidens,   old  Men    j-nd 
Chiidrcn— Praife  the  LORD. 

PSAL.  CxLViii,   12,    i^. 

N     E     W     -     L     O    N     D     O     N  : 

Print FD    and    Sold   bv    TIMOTHY  GREEN 
a  few  Rods   Weft  of  the   Court-Hous£.      ' 

M;DCC,LXXJV. 


INDIAN   MELODIES 

OCCUM.     L.  M. 


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OCCOM'S  SERMON,  HYMNS  AND   HYMN  BOOH      l8l 

book,  "That  no  son  of  the  forest,  to  his  knowledge,  has  ever 
undertaken  a  task  of  the  kind  ;  "  and  he  "begs  to  be  excused 
for  stepping  a  little  aside  from  the  path  generally  traveled  by 
authors,"  who  "wind  up  by  declaring  that  if  such  and  such  an 
object  has  been  secured  they  feel  amply  repaid  for  all  their 
toils,"  and  admitting  frankly  "that  notwithstanding  all  other 
ends  which  may  result  from  the  publication  of  this  work,  his 
object  is  to  make  a  little  money."  How  he  came  out  in  this 
purpose,  we  do  not  know;  but  he  has  done  a  service  in  pre- 
serving some  melodies  which  the  Christian  Indians  had  long 
been  accustomed  to  sing.  All  the  tunes  bear  Indian  names. 
Those  which  are  most  characteristic  are  Quapaw,  Montauk, 
Delaware,  Ottoe,  Wabash,  Kickapoo,  Susquehannah  and 
Piankashaw.  The  "Old  Indian  Hymn"  already  referred  to 
is  a  minor,  as  Indian  tunes  were  apt  to  be,  and  may  very 
liltely  have  been  a  favorite  long  used  among  the  Indians  of 
New  England. 

An  examination  of  the  hymns  in  Samson  Occom's  collection 
reveals  the  fact,  hitherto,  we  think,  unknown,  that  there  are  a 
considerable  number  which  are  not  found  in  earlier  books, 
and  are  not  noted,  or  are  unassigned  by  hymnologists.  The 
conclusion  is  that  he  was  himself  the  author  of  such.  Was 
not  this  probably  the  reason  why  the  book  was  announced  as 
"  Mr.  Occom's  Collection  of  Poems "  ?  The  collection  con- 
tains one  hundred  and  eight  numbered  hymns,  with  some 
doxologjes  and  graces.  Of  these  the  greater  part  are  known 
as  by  Watts,  Wesley,  Madan  and  others.  He  undoubtedly 
took  them  from  hymn-books  which  were  at  hand.  As  to  the 
remainder,  some,  which  are  unclaimed  by  authors  so  far  as  we 
are  aware,  do  not  seem  to  exhibit  his  style  of  composition, 
while  others  have  distinctly  his  earmarks  in  certain  expres- 
sions. We  give  the  first  lines  of  a  number  of  these,  which 
must  be  assigned  to  Occom,  unless  other  authorship  is  proven  : 
"  Lord,  I  confess   my  sin  is  great,"  "  Weary  of  struggling  with 


l82  SAMSON  OCCOM 

my  Pain,"  "The  Prodigal's  return'd,"  "Laden'd  with  guilt 
sinners  arise,"  "Awake  sad  heart,  whom  sorrows  drown," 
"  Christ  Jesus  is  the  chiefest  Good,"  "  Now  his  the  ever-rolling 
Year,"  "  Behold  that  Splendor,  hear  the  Shout,"  "  Most  gra- 
cious God  of  boundless  Might,"  "  O  Sight  of  Anguish,  view  it 
near,"  "  I  bless  the  Lord,  who  gives  his  word,"  "  Ye  that  seek 
the  Lord,  who  dy'd,"  "  Welcome,  welcome,  blessed  Servant," 
"Behold  Jesus  Christ  in  the  Clouds,"  "Hail  thou  happy  Morn 
so  glorious,"  "Come  to  Jesus,  come  away,"  "  Hark  ye  Mortals, 
hear  the  Trumpet,"  "  Why  was  unbelieving  I,"  "  By  sin  my 
God  and  all  was  lost,"  "  Today  Immanuel  feeds  his  sheep," 
"  Christ  in  that  Night  he  was  betray'd,"  "  Farewell  to  my  Pain 
and  farewell  to  my  Chain,"  "Lord  from  thy  Throne  of  flowing 
grace,"  and  "Blest  be  the  God  whose  tender  care."  Six  of 
these  hymns  are  found  in  Joshua  Smith's  collection.  Some  of 
Occom's  hymns  have  appeared  in  later  hymn-books.  It  is, 
of  course,  possible  that  he  supplied  some  hymns  for  collec- 
tions issued  by  others  before  his  own,  but  we  think  not.  All 
his  hymns  must  be  assigned  to  that  period  of  despondency 
which  followed  his  return  from  England.  He  has  wrought  his 
experience  into  them.  We  can  easily  imagine  that  he  has 
expressed  in  some  of  them  that  peace  which  finally  came  with 
his  victory,  the  joy  he  felt  over  the  prodigal  Johnson's  return, 
and  the  evangelistic  fervor  of  the  awakening  among  his  Chris- 
tian Indians. 

Several  hymns,  which  are  better  known  than  those  above 
noted,  have  been  assigned  to  this  Indian  hymn-writer.  One 
of  these  is  on  the  suffering  of  Christ.  Its  first  stanza  is  as 
follows  : 

Throughout  the  Saviour's  life  we  trace, 
NotHing  but  shame  and  deep  disgrace, 

No  period  else  was  seen  : 
Till  he  a  spotless  victim  fell, 
Tasting  in  soul  a  painful  hell, 

Caus'd  by  the  creature's  sin. 


OCCOJirS  SERMON,   HYMNS  AND   HYMN  BOOK      1 83 

This  is  surely  Occom's  composition.  It  is  a  good  illustra- 
tion of  his  style,  and  is  found  in  his  collection,  whence  it  was 
taken  by  Joshua  Smith.  In  some  later  hymn-books  it  has 
"  our  "  for  ''  the,"  or  "  I  "  for  "  we,"  in  the  first  line.  Another 
hymn  with  which  he  is  credited  is  more  familiar : 

Now  the  shades  of  night  are  gone, 
Now  the  morning  light  is  come  : 
Lord,  we  would  be  thine  to-day, 
Drive  the  shades  of  sin  away. 

The  first  appearance  of  this  hymn  was  in  the  Hartford  Col- 
lection in  1799.  It  is  also  found  in  the  edition  of  Joshua  Smith's 
collection,  printed  at  Albany  in  1804,  which  has  Occom's  name 
on  the  title-page.  The  Prayer  Book  collection  of  1826  gave  it 
extensive  circulation,  and  it  is  still  used.  This  hymn  is,  how- 
ever, quite  unlike  his  style  of  thought  and  expression,  and  its 
authorship  must  remain  in  doubt. 

The  most  famous  of  Occom's  hymns  is  that  which  begins 
with  the  line  "Awaked  by  Sinai's  awful  sound,"  and  many 
have  wondered  whether  he  indeed  wrote  it.  We  have  now  this 
fact  in  the  foreground  that  he  composed  quite  a  number  of 
other  hymns.  Its  appearance  several  years  after  his  death 
does  not  in  any  wise  indicate  that  he  was  not  the  author,  for 
we  have  reason  to  believe  that  he  left  some  hymns  among  his 
manuscripts  which  had  not  been  published  and  which  he 
wrote  after  issuing  his  own  book.  This  was  probably  thus 
brought  to  light.  A  perplexity  has  arisen  from  the  fact  that 
there  are  two  versions  of  this  hymn,  both  of  which  appeared, 
so  far  as  known,  about  the  same  time.  Students  of  hymnology 
have  concluded  that  Occom  wrote  one  of  these,  beginning 
"Wak'd  by  the  gospel's  pow'rful  sound,"  and  that 'the  other 
was  an  attempt  of  some  one  else  to  improve  this,  the  first  line 
being  changed  to  read  "  Awak'd  by  Sinai's  awful  sound."  His 
own  book  does  not  contain  either  version.  Joshua  Smith's 
collection  of   1804  has  the  former  in  eight  stanzas,  with  some 


184  SAMSOiV  OCCOM 

alterations,  as  in  the  first  line,  "Wak'd  by  the  gospel's  joyful 
sound."  In  the  Suffield  edition  of  1805,  this  modified  version 
is  found,  and  there  are  eleven  stanzas,  as  also  in  Joshua 
Spalding's  book,  issued  in  1805,  "The  Lord's  Songs,"  where  it 
is  credited  to  Occom.  The  other  version  was  soon  recognized 
as  better,  and  with  some  changes  it  passed  into  general  use. 
Possibly  the  first  version  appeared  earlier  than  1801,  but  it 
was  that  year  published  in  Josiah  Goddard's  "New  and  Beau- 
tiful Collection  of  Hymns  and  Spiritual  Songs,"  printed  by 
Thomas  &  Thomas,  at  Walpole,  N.  H.     We  give  this  in  full : 

Wak'd  by  the  gospel's  pow'rful  sound 
My  soul  in  sin  and  thrall  I  found, 

Expos'd  to  endless  woe; 
Eternal  truth  did  loud  proclaim, 
The  sinner  must  be  born  again, 

Or  down  to  ruin  go. 

Surpriz'd  indeed,  I  could  not  tell, 
Which  way  to  shun  the  gates  of  hell, 

To  which  I 's  drawing  near ; 
I  strove  alas!  but  all  in  vain. 
The  sinner  must  be  born  again, 

Still  sounded  in  mine  ears. 

Into  the  law  then  run  for  help, 
Eut  still  I  felt  the  weight  of  guilt, 

And  no  relief  1  found  ; 
While  sin  my  burden'd  soul  did  pain. 
The  sinner  must  be  born  again. 

Did  loud  as  thunder  sound. 

God's  justice  now  I  did  behold, 
And  guilt  lay  dreadful  on  my  soul, 

It  was  a  heavy  load  : 
I  read  my  bible,  it  was  plain, 
The  sinner  must  be  born  again. 

Or  feel  the  wrath  of  God. 

I  heard  some  speak  how  Christ  did  give 
Mis  life,  to  let  the  sinner  live, 
But  him  I  could  not  see; 


OCCOM'S  SERMON,   HYMNS  AND   HYMN  BOOK      1 85 

This  solemn  truth  did  still  remain, 
The  sinner  must  be  born  again, 
Or  dwell  in  misery. 

But  as  my  soul  with  dying  breath, 
Was  gasping  in  eternal  death, 

Christ  Jesus  I  did  see  : 
Free  grace  and  pardon  he  proclaim'd, 
I  trust  I  then  was  born  again. 

In  gospel  liberty. 

Not  angels  in  the  world  above, 

Nor  saints  could  glow  with  greater  love 

Than  what  my  soul  enjoy'd; 
My  soul  did  mount  on  faith  its  wing, 
And  glory,  glory,  I  did  sing 

To  Jesus  my  dear  Lord. 

Now  with  the  saints  I  '11  sing  and  tell, 
How  Jesus  sav'd  my  soul  from  hell, 

And  praise  redeeming  love  : 
Ascribe  the  glory  to  the  Lamb; 
The  sinner  now  is  born  again, 

To  dwell  with  Christ  above. 

*  The  other  version  of  this  hymn  first  appeared  in  The  Con- 
necticut Evangelical  Magazine  for  July.  1802,  under  the  title 
"The  New  Birth,''  and  was  "communicated  as  original."  It 
is  as  follows  : 

Awak'd  by  Sinai's  awful  sound, 
My  soul  in  guilt  &  thrall  I  found. 

And  knew  not  where  to  go  : 
O'erwhelm'd  with  sin,  with  anguish  slain, 
The  sinner  must  be  born  again, 

Or  sink  to  endless  woe. 

Amaz'd  I  stood,  but  could  not  tell. 
Which  way  to  shun  the  gates  of  hell, 

For  death  and  hell  drew  near; 
I  strove  indeed,  but  strove  in  vain, 
The  sinner  must  be  born  again. 

Still  sounded  in  mine  ear. 


1 86  SAAISOiV  OCCOM 

When  to  the  law  I  trembling  fled, 
It  pour'd  its  curses  on  my  head, 

I  no  relief  could  find  ; 
This  fearful  truth  renew'd  my  pain, 
The  sinner  must  be  born  again, 

And  whelm'd  my  tortur'd  mind. 

Again  did  Sinai's  thunders  roll, 
And  guilt  lay  heavy  on  my  soul, 

A  vast,  unwieldy  load  ; 
Alas!  I  read,  and  saw  it  plain. 
The  sinner  must  be  born  again, 

Or  drink  the  wrath  of  God. 

The  saints  I  heard  with  rapture  tell, 
How  Jesus  conquer'd  death  and  hell. 

And  broke  the  fowler's  snare; 
Yet  when  I  found  this  truth  remain, 
The  sinner  must  be  born  again, 

I  sunk  in  deep  despair. 

But  while  I  thus  in  anguish  lay, 
Jesus  of  Nazareth  past  that  way. 

And  felt  his  pity  move; 
The  sinner  by  his  justice  slain. 
Now  by  his  grace  is  born  again. 

And  sings  redeeming  love. 

To  heaven  the  joyful  tidings  flew. 
The  angels  tun'd  their  harps  anew. 

And  loftier  notes  did  raise; 
All  hail  the  Lamb,  who  once  was  slain ; 
Unnumber'd  millions  born  again 

Will  shout  thine  endless  praise. 

The  arrangement  of  this  hymn  now  in  use  has  altered  this 
version  in  many  lines  ;  but  one  can  easily  see  that  what  may 
be  called  the  motive  remains.  Occom's  stamp  is  certainly 
upon  this  hymn.  It  is  in  his  favorite  meter,  the  expressions 
are  his  and  the  theme,  so  ingeniously  wrought  into  each 
stanza,  was  the  most  prominent  in  his  ministry.     We  have  not 


occonrs  sermon,  hymns  and  hymn  book    187 

the  slightest  doubt  that  the  solution  of  the  hymnologists'  per- 
plexity is  that  both  versions  were  written  by  Occom.  He  was 
accustomed  to  rewrite  and  make  alterations,  as  his  manu- 
scripts show,  several  varying  copies  of  the  same  letter  or  docu- 
ment being  extant.  The  second  version  was  made  after  the 
first  to  improve  it,  and  perhaps  there  were  originally  more 
stanzas  than  have  survived.  After  his  death  his  papers  were 
scattered.  Both  versions  might  thus  quite  naturally  find  their 
way  into  print,  and  one  be  "communicated  as  original"  to  the 
Connecticut  Evangelical  Magazine.  There  is  nothing  in  either 
so  superior  as  to  be  beyond  the  powers  of  Samson  Occom. 
Some  stanzas  in  his  other  hymns  are  better;  but  none  of  them 
indicates  that  he  was  a  gifted  poet  or  above  the  average  hymn- 
writer  of  his  day.  The  field  in  which  he  is  now  best  known 
is  one  in  which  he  has  deserved  distinction  far  less  than  in 
many  others.  He  was  greater  as  a  missionary,  as  a  wise 
leader  among  his  people  and  as  the  founder  of  a  tribe  which 
attempted  a  self-government  unique  in  our  American  history. 
Still,  this  hymn  has  served  as  his  memorial.  It  has  brought 
him  to  the  mind  of  many  a  singer,  though  more  perhaps  have 
sung  it  in  ignorance  of  its  Indian  authorship.  Among  white 
worshipers  it  has  now  grown  old  and  is  passing  away.  The 
Christian  Indians  of  many  tribes,  however,  esteem  it  still  a 
favorite,  as  if  it  were  a  message  of  the  Great  Spirit  through 
one  of  their  prophets ;  and  in  the  homes  of  the  once  famous 
Iroquois,  to  whom  he  carried  the  Gospel,  they  sing  in  a 
strange  and  failing  tongue  : 

Neh'  ogyet'  he  ni  yut  gaih'  nih 
No  ya  nes  hal/     Na  wen  ni' yuh'; 

Agi'  vva  neh'  a  goh  : 
Deh'agega  ha  ga  deh'  gwat, 
Neh'  dyu'  i  wah  ha  jo'  na  gaad 

Neh  goi'  wa  neh'  a  goh. 


CHAPTER   XI 

SEVEN    SETTLEMENTS    OF    CHRISTIAN    INDIANS 
1717-1776 

The  Indian  tribes  of  southern  New  England  had  been  gen- 
erally gathered  from  a  wandering  life  to  dwell  on  reservations 
early  in  the  eighteenth  century.  Old  tribes  were  in  course  of 
time  broken  up,  their  lands  sold  and  the  remnant  absorbed  in 
one  of  these  communities.  Maintenance  by  hunting  was  no 
longer  possible  and  the  Indian's  interest  in  agriculture  was 
confined  to  a  few  acres  of  corn.  Some  relief  was  granted 
them  from  time  to  time  by  the  colonies  ;  but  its  effect  was 
temporary  and  rarely  beneficial.  These  changed  conditions 
made  the  Indian's  existence  more  of  a  burden  than  it  had 
been  in  the  free  life  of  his  fathers.  Corruptions  were  bred  in 
his  restricted  associations.  Intemperance,  licentiousness  and 
disease  all  claimed  him  as  a  victim  ;  and  the  later  colonial 
wars,  in  which  many  of  their  hardiest  men  served,  left  numer- 
ous widows  and  orphans  to  struggle  with  multiplying  miseries. 
Yet  in  the  midst  of  all  the  evils  which  were  silently  wasting 
away  the  race,  there  was  at  work  a  force  making  for  the  sur- 
vival of  the  fittest.  In  every  tribal  center  there  were  some 
who  had  received  an  education  at  the  Indian  school,  or  had 
been  subjects  of  Christianizing  influences  or  were  naturally 
above  the  average  in  frugality,  industry  and  ambition.  These 
had  come  to  be  termed  in  a  general  way  Christian  Indians. 
Without  any  knowledge  of  scieijtific  theories,  but  with  the 
practical  foresight  of  a  statesman,  Samson  Occom  saw  what 
would  surely  befall  his  people,  if  they  continued  in  their  ances- 
tral homes  surrounded  by  the  whites.     This   was  the  reason 

188 


SEVEN  SETTLEMENTS   OF  CHRISTIAN  INDIANS    1 89 

why  he  originated  the  plan  of  gathering  into  one  tribe  the 
better  Indians  and  removing  westward  to  start  anew  in  a  more 
favorable  environment.  Ere  we  consider  the  development  of 
this  design,  we  should  review  the  work  done  preparatory 
thereto  in  the  several  Indian  settlements. 

The  history  of  civilization  in  these  communities  dates 
naturally  from  the  year  1717,  when  the  Connecticut  General 
Assembly  passed  an  act,  as  already  noted,  in  which  reservation 
life  had  its  beginning.  A  new  interest  in  the  Indians  followed 
this  important  measure.  It  is  evident,  however,  that  religious 
work  among  the  Indians  did  not  get  well  under  way  until 
1732.  Thereafter  it  never  lacked  friends  in  the  Connecticut 
colony.  The  government  itself  became  the  patron  of  Indian 
missions.  This  revived  interest  reached  a  climax  in  1736, 
when  the  General  Assembly  at  its  May  session  passed  an  act 
directing  "That  at  the  next  publick  Thanksgiving  that  shall 
be  appointed  in  this  Colony,  there  shall  be  a  contribution 
attended  in  every  ecclesiastical  society  or  parish  in  this  gov- 
ernment, and  that  the  money  that  shall  be  raised  thereby 
shall  be  improved  for  the  civilizing  and  christianizing  of  the 
Indian  natives  in  this  Colony."  This  gave  an  impulse  to  the 
work  by  bringing  it  to  the  attention  of  every  congregation. 
Although  it  was  continued  in  a  few  places  after  the  Revolu- 
tion, that  political  and  social  upheaval  wrought  desolation. 
When  the  people  had  recovered  from  this  conflict  it  was  found 
that  there  were  only  a  few  Indians  left  in  any  of  their  reserva- 
tions. The  strength  of  the  Connecticut  tribes  died  in  the 
cause  of  liberty ! 

One  of  the  largest  and  most  influential  of  these  settle- 
ments was  at  Misquamicut,  or  Charlestown,  R.  I.  Here  in 
the  eighteenth  century  the  sachems  of  Ninegret's  line  reigned 
over  the  remnants  of  the  Eastern  Niantics  and  Narragansetts, 
which  latter  name  they  commonly  bore.  These  Indians  may 
have  had  occasional  missionary  visitations  before   172 1  ;  but 


190  SAMSON  OCCOM 

in  that  year  the  "  Society  for  the  Propagation  of  the  Gospel  in 
P'oreign  Parts" — the  sectarian  society  of  the  Church  of  Eng- 
land— sent  Rev.  James  McSparran  to  minister  over  St.  Paul's 
church  at  Narragansett.  Thp  intention  was  that  he  should 
labor  with  both  the  English  and  the  Indians.  In  Henry 
Caner's  tract  on  "A  Candid  Examination  of  Dr.  Mayhew's 
Observations,"  one  of  a  series  relating  to  the  conduct  of  this 
society,  there  is  an  important  paragraph  on  this  effort: 

At  Charlestown  in  the  Narragansett  (R.  I  )  an  attempt  was  made  by  this 
Society  to  establish  a  mission  for  the  benefit  of  the  English  and  the  tribe  of 
Indians  in  that  neighborhood  (at  that  time  about  400)  to  which  attempt  the 
Indians  were  [so]  well  disjjo-ed,  by  the  labours  of  Dr.  Macsparran,  a 
neighboring  missionary,  that  the  Sachem  gave  a  piece  of  ground  to  erect 
a  church  upon  and  a  considerable  quantity  of  land  besides  for  a  glebe. 
Accordingly  a  church  was  set  up  and  the  laudable  design  in  a  promising 
way,  when  one  Mr.  Parks  was  sent  thither  to  give  a  check  to  the  attempt, 
who  by  drawing  off  a  party  and  kindling  a  spirit  of  enthusiasm  among  both 
English  and  Indians  in  that  town  totally  disappointed  and  frustrated  the 
design. 1 

The  facts  were  about  as  here  stated.  Dr.  McSparran  did 
missionary  service  with  some  success  under  the  favor  of  Charles 
Ninegret,  who  gave  twenty  acres  of  land  in  1727  "for  the 
erecting  thereon  a  house  for  worship,  according  to  the  form  of 
the  church  of  England."  A  small  church  was  at  that  time 
built,  though  it  was  not  until  January  14,  1745-46,  that  the 
land  was  actually  conveyed,  with  twenty  acres  more  for  a 
glebe,  by  George  Ninegret,  the  succeeding  sachem.  It  was  a 
wooden  structure,  situated  on  the  Champlin  farm,  north  of 
the  post-road,  and  about  half  a  mile  from  the  sachem's  house.^ 

i"A  Candid  Examination,  etc."  [Henry  Caner]  Boston,  1763,  p.  45.  For  other 
pamphlets  on  this  controversy,  see  Brinley  Catalogue,  No.  6165. 

2  After  the  failure  of  this  enterprise  the  property  was  held  by  the  Champlin 
family  by  right  of  possession.  In  1765  the  Indians  complained  of  their  sachem 
because  "  about  forty  acres  of  their  land  granted  to  the  Royal  Society  for  a  church 
of  England,  he  suffers  Col.  Champlin  or  some  of  his  family  to  keep  possession  of 
and  occupy  it  without  the  least  banefit  to  the  Society,  or  the  church  or  the  Indians." 
[A^.  K  Arch.,  MSS.,  Sir  IVm.  Johnson,  XXiV,  251.]     The  Cliamplin  place  passed 


SEVEIV  SETTLEMENTS   OF  CHRISTIAN  INDIANS    191 

This  was  known  as  "  The  Church  of  England  in  Charles- 
town  ; "  but  no  church  organization  ever  existed  there,  the 
whites  who  attended  being  communicants  of  the  Narragansett 
church.  It  was  only  a  preaching  station  for  Dr.  McSparran, 
which  he  ceased  to  visit  probably  about  1748.^  Indians 
attended  there  in  considerable  numbers  for  ten  years ;  but  the 
work  declined  when  a  minister  came  who  could  live  among 
them. 

The  commissioners  of  the  "  Society  for  Propagating  the 
Gospel  in  New  England,"  meeting  at  Boston,  June  i,  1732, 
had  before  them  a  request  for  a  minister  in  Westerly,  pre- 
sented in  a  letter  from  Colonel  John  Coddington  of  Newport. 
It  was  decided  to  send  Joseph  Park,  and  he  removed  thither 
with  his  family  the  following  year.  He  was  pledged  to  labor 
under  the  society  for  five  years  "  as  a  missionary  to  the 
Indians  and  such  English  as  would  attend."  Action  was 
immediately  taken  toward  building  a  meeting-house,  under 
an  agreement  that  the  Indians  should  have  one  half  of  it 
assigned  to  them  and  the  society  would  defray  one  half  of  the 
expense.  This  edifice  was  located  about  five  miles  west  of 
the  Episcopal  church,  on  the  same  road,  and  on  land  then 
belonging  to  Colonel  Joseph  Stanton,  the  prime  mover  in  the 
affair.  It  was  completed  in  1734,  and  cost  about  ;i{^2oo.^  Mr. 
Park  lived  near  and  opened  a  school  for  Indians  in  his  family. 
The  work  made  encouraging  progress  for  a  time,  especially 
under  the  religious  influences  abroad  in   1740,  and  undoubt- 

to  Robert  Hazard  and  later  to  James  McDonald.  The  church  gradually  went  to 
decay  and  the  frame  was  used  in  building  a  house  near  the  spot,  in  the  ruins  of 
which  the  ancient  timbers  could  be  seen  in  1896. 

3  Updike's  Hist,  of  the  Narragansett  C/nirch,  pp.  512,  513  ;  Westerly  and  Its  Wit- 
nesses, Rev.  Frederic  Denison,  Prov.  1878,  p.  76;  Hist.  Sketch  of  the  Toivn  of 
Charlestown,  W.  F.  Tucker,  Westerly,  1877,  p.  63  ;  Letter  Book  of  Rev.  James 
MacSparran,  Rev.  Daniel  Goodwin,  Ph.  D.,  pp.  34,  yj,  138-141. 

*  This  meeting-house  stood  until  late  in  the  century.  It  was  within  the  present 
limits  of  Westerly,  on  the  James  Ross  place,  the  spot  being  indicated  by  a  small 
graveyard  near  by.  Here  are  the  graves  of  Rev.  Joseph  Park,  who  died  March  i, 
1777,  and  his  wife,  Abigail,  who  died  October  19,  1772. 


192  SAMSON  OCCOM 

edly  drew  the  Indians  from  the  Episcopal  church.  On  the 
5th  of  May,  1742,  a  church  was  formed  and  Mr.  Park  was  or- 
dained to  the  pastorate  August  thirteenth  following,  at  a  salary 
of  ;^i2o.  During  the  next  two  years  "  more  than  sixty  Indians 
became  members "  of  this  Presbyterian  or  Congregational 
church.  Among  them  was  one,  Samuel  Niles,  who  seems  to 
have  been  named  after  the  white  minister  of  South  Kingstown. 
A  small  schoolhouse  was  built  for  the  Indians  before  1745  on 
Colonel  Stanton's  land,  and  everything  seemed  to  promise 
well  for  the  Christianizing  of  the  tribe. 

This  Congregational  church,  however,  was  divided  during 
the  Separatist  excitement.  In  1746  the  Indians  who  were 
infected  with  such  notions  drew  off,  and  the  prospect  of  Mr. 
Park's  usefulness  there  being  gone  the  commissioners  discon- 
tinued their  support,  September  17,  1748.  President  Stiles 
on  one  of  his  tours  met  Samuel  Niles,  and  had  from  his  lips 
an  account  of  what  followed  : 

May  8,  1772.  This  forenoon  I  was  visited  by  Samuel  Niles  an  Indian  of 
the  Narragansett.  Ot  66.  He  told  me  that  he  was  formerly  a  coniunicant 
in  Mr.  Parks  Congreg^  Chh  in  Westerly  where  he  was  baptized  by  sprin- 
kling. Here  he  was  dealt  with  for  exhorting  in  the  Congregation,  upon 
which  he  and  about  a  hundred  Indians  withdrew,  i.  e.  the  chief  body  of  the 
Narr.  Tribe  wh  was  xtianized.  They  built  a  new  meeting  house  25  ft  sq 
and  spontaneously  gathered  themselves,  above  20  brethren  in  number  into  a 
chh  or  agreed  to  walk  together  as  such.  Mr.  Stephen  Babcock,  a  Deacon 
of  Mr.  Park's  chh  had  also  separated  &  became  an  Elder  among  the  Sepa- 
ratists— a  mixture  of  Baptists  &  Pedobaptists  &  was  ordained  I  think  by 
some  bap  elders.  There  was  a  Indian  from  Groton  of  the  Remnants  of  the 
Pequot  Tribe  who  came  &  preached  at  Narra^  and  he  was  by  the  Laying 
[on]  of  hands  of  Elder  Babcock  &  others  ordained  Elder  of  this  Indian 
chh — his  name  was  James  Simon  or  Simon  James.  But  about  half  a  dozen 
B''  adhering  to  him,  he  &  his  adherents  met  in  a  private  house — to  these  he 
administered  bap"^  &  t  Ld  supper  3  or  4  yrs  &  then  removed.  At  the  same 
time  Sami  Niles  carried  on  in  the  Meeting  House  &  at  length  about  15 
brethren  who  refused  Simon  united  &  called  Samuel.  But  none  even  of  the 
Separate  Elders  wd  ordain  him,  the  chh  chose  &  app'  3  breih  Indians  to 
ordain  him.  They  began  exercises  about  noon  &  cont  to  sunset.  The  3 
breth  laid  on  Hands  on  Sam^  Niles  &   one  of  them,   viz  Wm  Choise   or 


SEVEN  SETTLEMENTS   OF  CHRISTIAN  INDIANS   1 93 

Cohoize  or  Oc-Hoyze  prayed  over  him  &  gave  him  the  charge  of  that  Flock, 
during  which  such  a  Spirit  was  outpoured  &  fell  upon  them  (as  he  expresses 
it)  that  m5ny  others  of  the  Cong"  prayed  aloud  &  lift  n\>  their  hearts  with 
prayers  &  Tears  to  G*^.  This  cont^  a  long  time,  half  an  hour  or  near  an 
hour.  The  white  pple  present  taking  this  for  confusion  were  disgusted  & 
went  away.  Afterwards  they  sang  &  were  dismissed.  Ever  since  he  has 
ministered  there  in  holy  things,  preach?  baptizing  &c.  He  himself  was 
bap  afores'd  time  &  this  was  by  plunging  &  I  think  by  an  Indian  not  an 
Elder.  Yet  he  holds  it  indifferent  &  it  was  agreed  that  Bap  or  Pedobap 
principles  sh'd  be  no  Term  of  Comunion.  Accdly  Saml  bap  both  Tnf  & 
adults,  latter  by  spk  or  plung,  as  they  wish.  lie  Has  now  Ninety  Ind* 
Communicants  in  chh  at  Narr  to  whom  he  breaks  bread  once  a  mo.  He 
also  breaks  b'd  to  2  other  Cong*  one  at  Groton  and  another  at  Mohegan. 
For  tho  Mr.  Occom  preaches  there  &  has  been  long  ordained  yet  he  has 
not  administered  the  ordinances  since  his  Fall.  Samuel  Niles  cannot  read. 
It  seems  extraordinary  that  such  an  one  should  be  a  Pastor.  He  is  how- 
ever acquainted  with  the  Doctrines  of  the  Gospel  and  an  earnest,  zealous 
man  &  perhaps  does  more  good  to  the  Indians  than  any  White  man  could 
do.  He  is  of  an  unblameable  life  as  to  Morals  &  sobriety.  He  has  very 
great  influence  over  the  Indians^ 

We  have  further  information  in  a  report  made  by  Rev. 
Joseph  Fish  of  North  Stonington  to  the  commissioners  in 
1764,  in  which  he  says  of  the  Indians,  "They  left  Park's 
meeting  about  the  time  that  Deacon  Babcock  fell  off  from  the 
standing  chh,  about  19  or  20  years  ago,  &  were  for  some  time 
under  the  instruction  of  Babcock  a  separate  Baptist  teacher, 
till  most  of  them  took  offense  at  his  conduct  in  ordaining  an 
Indian  over  y"'  y*  wa'nt  agreeable  to  y*  Body  of  y®  tribe,  upon 
which  some  of  y''  Indian  Brethren  (as  I  am  informed)  not  in  any 
office  took  &  ordained  one  Samuel  Niles  their  Pastor  &  he  has 
been  their  minister  ever  since,  preaching,  administering  the 
Lord's  Supper,  baptizing  and  marrying."^ 

These  extracts  recover  the  history  of  the  famous  Indian 
church  in  Charlestown.  It  appears  that  about  1745  the  New 
Light  party  and  the  Indians  separated  from  Mr.  Park's  church  ; 

5  Stilcy  MSS.,  Yale  College,  Diary  III,  89. 

•'  Conn.  Hist.  Soc,  hidian  Pafers^'Ltlt.  of  Fish. 

J4 


194 


SAMSON  OCCOM 


that  both  were  for  a  time  under  the  care  of  Mr.  Stephen  Bab- 
cock,  and  that  he  then  ordained  James  Simons  over  the  Indians, 
thereby  creating  a  division  among  them  which  resulted  in  the 
ordination  of  Samuel  Niles.  Mr.  Babcock  was  himself  installed 
over  his  party,  called  the  "  Hill  Church,"  April  4,  1750."  The 
Indians  built  a  rude  wooden  meeting-house  twenty-five  feet 
square  which  stood  near  the  center  of  their  tract,  and  on  this 
spot  the  present  Indian  church  was  erected  in  1859— a  stone 
edifice,  twenty-eight  feet  wide  and  forty  feet  long.  In  their 
first  meeting^iouse  Rev.  Samuel  Niles  ministered  for  many 
years  and  certainly  until  the  year  1776.  Samson  Occom  also 
occasionally  preached  there  on  his  tours  ;  so  also  did  Samuel 
Ashbow,  whom  McClure  heard  there  in  1768.  It  is  said  that 
Samuel  Niles  was  "in  his  day  one  of  the  most  eminent  Indian 
preachers  in  America."  Rev.  Joseph  Fish  wrote  of  him  thus  : 
'"This  Niles  whom  I  have  known  some  years  is  a  sober,  reli- 
gious man,  of  good  sense  and  great  fluency  of  speech  and  [I] 
know  not  but  a  very  honest  man.  Has  a  good  deal  of  the 
Scriptures  by  heart  &  professes  a  regard  for  the  Bible.  But 
his  unhappiness  is  this  he  cannot  read  a  w^ord." '^  As  above 
stated  he  occasionally  preached  at  Groton  and  Mohegan.  He 
was  for  years  a  councilor  of  the  Narragansett  Indians  and 
prominent  in  the  defense  of  their  land  claims.'-^  In  the  census 
of  1 76 1  his  age  is  given  as  60  years  and  he  then  had  a  son 
and  a  daughter.  He  was  succeeded  in  the  ministry  by 
another  Indian,  John  Sekatur,  a  useful  and  good  man  ;  and  he 
by  Moses  Stanton,  ordained  March  17,  1823.  The  latter 
toiled  faithfully,  but  the  tribe  were  fading  away,  and  about 
1844  he  went  to  Ann  Arbor,   Mich.,  where  he  died.     Aaron 

'  Backus'  Hist,  of  New  Englani,  i^7i>  !>  347)  348,  II,  510,  511. 

^  Conn.  Hist.  Soc,  Indian  Papers,  Lett,  of  Fish.  This  Indian.  Samuel  Niles,  is 
sometimes  confounded  with  the  white  }ninister  of  the  same  name  who  never  had 
anything  to  do  with  this  Indian  church.  Denison's  Westerly  and  Its  Witnesses^  p.  So. 

'■^A  Statement  of  the  Case  of  the  Narragansett  Tribe  of  Indians,  by  James  N. 
Arnold,  Newport,  1S96. 


SEVEN  SETTLEMENTS   OF  CHRISTIAN  INDIANS   195 

Sekatur  was  the  last  minister,  ordained  about  1858,  and  a 
well-known  exhorter  in  his  day.  This  church  has  long  been  of 
the  Freewill  Baptist' order,  with  a  leaning  toward  Adventist 
views;  but  only  a  few  now  remain,  aged  and  scattered.  In 
1784  there  were  about  fifty  members,  in  1827,  ninety-three,  and 
in  1877,  about  forty.  Once  a  year,  in  the  month  of  August,  the 
remnant  of  the  tribe  gather  at  the  meeting-house,  now  isolated 
in  the  midst  of  miles  of  growing  woodland,  and  on  a  festival 
day  remember  the  bygone  years.  Back  of  the  church  is  their 
burial-ground,  now  almost  lost  to  view  in  the  brush,  where  rest 
the  dead  of  many  generations. 

After  the  separation,  for  some  years,  these  Indians  were 
without  a  school.  In  1764  Rev.  Joseph  Fish  made  a  visita- 
tion among  them,  saw  the  necessity  and  influenced  them  to 
petition  the  commissioners  of  the  missionary  society  for  a 
schoolmaster.  Edward  Deake  was  sent  and  began  teach- 
ing there  June  3,  1765.  That  autumn  he  set  about  building  a 
schoolhouse,  which  was  to  be  "40  feet  long  and  16  wide," 
"one  story  with  a  Strait  Roof  and  ye  Chimney  in  ye  middle 
with  two  Smokes."  One  end  was  to  be  fitted  up  as  a  tene- 
ment for  the  schoolmaster,  with  a  cellar  underneath.  The 
commissioners  were  to  furnish  boards,  nails  and  glass,  and 
the  Indians  were  to  do  the  work.  It  was  several  years,  how- 
ever, before  this  structure  was  completed,  for  the  commission- 
ers declined  to  furnish  the  funds  until  the  land  was  conveyed 
to  them.  This  was  not  until  January  5,  1770.^^^  Meanwhile 
Deake  went  on  at  his  own  risk  and  the  bills  were  afterwards 
paid  by  the  society.  This  schoolhouse  was  situated  on  a 
knoll  north  of  Cockumpaug  Pond,  about  one  half  mile  from 
the  Indian  church  ;  and  it  is  said  to  survive  to  this  day  in  the 
club-house  now  on  the  spot.      Rev.  Joseph  Fish,  who  was  put 

i^Charlestown  Records,  Deed  from  Queen  Esther;  R.  I.  Col.  Rec,  vi,  534;  Conn. 
Hist.  Soc.  Indian  Papers ;  MS.  Rec.  Soc.  for  Prop.  Cos.  ;  and  Wheelock  Papers, 
Lett.  Fish  to  Whitaker,  July  30,  1766. 


196  SAMSON  OCCOM 

in  charge  of  the  work,  lectured  in  it  once  a  month  for  several 
years.  .The  school  prospered.  In  1765  there  were  seventy- 
three  Indian  families  on  the  reservation,  with  one  hundred 
and  fifty-one  children  of  school  age,  of  whom  about  half  were 
pupils.  A  division  arose  among  them  as  to  the  schoolmaster 
in  the  course  of  time,  and  finally,  in  1776,  Deake  was  dismissed. 
Many  of  the  Indians  went  into  the  war  and  from  that  time 
the  settlement  declined.  Here  some  of  Wheelock's  Indian 
pupils  lived,  and  this  tribe  furnished  more  families  than  any 
other  in  the  emigration  to  Oneida. 

The  Pequot  tribe  next  engages  our  attention.  Since  the 
Pequot  war  they  had  been  divided  into  two  clans.  One,  under 
Wequash  Cook,  or  Hermon  Garret,  was  settled  in  1683  on  a 
tract  of  two  hundred  and  eighty  acres  in  North  Stonington, 
three  miles  from  the  meeting-house.  The  other,  under  Cas- 
sasinamon,  sometimes  called  Robin,  removed  in  1667  from 
Nawyonk  on  the  seashore  to  a  reservation  of  two  thousand 
acres,  called  Mushantuxet,  after  1705  in  Groton,  but  now 
within  the  town  of  Ledyard,  Conn.  The  former  were  some- 
times called  the  Stonington  Indians  and  the  latter  were  com- 
monly styled  the  Groton  Pequots.  So  early  as  1657  Rev. 
Richard  Blinman  of  New  London  was  invited  to  become  a 
missionary  among  the  Pequots,  and  though  he  declined  the 
engagement  he  may  have  done  some  service  among  them. 
The  commissioners  the  same  year  engaged  Mr.  William 
Thompson  "in  theire  labours  and  Indeauors  to  Instruct  the 
Indians  therabouts  resideing  especially  Robin  and  his  com- 
panie."  He  began  the  work  in  1659,  laboring  to  some  extent 
among  both  clans  and  being  assisted  by  Thomas  Stanton  as 
interpreter;  but  after  three  years  he  discontinued  it.  Other 
early  attempts  were  made  to  provide  a  missionary  and  to  edu- 
cate English  youth  as  schoolmasters,  for  which  purpose  they 
engaged  John  Miner  and  Thomas  and  John  Stanton.  All  these 
early  efforts  came  to  nothing.     The  visits  of  Rev.  Experience 


SEVEN  SETTLEMENTS   OE  CHRISTIAN  INDIANS  1 97 

Mayhew  were  not  followed  up  with  zeal.  It  was  not  until  the 
general  beginning  of  missionary  work  in  southern  New  Eng- 
land in  the  next  century  that  any  positive  good  was  accom- 
plished. In  1734  Mr.  Peabody  of  Natick  visited  the  Groton 
Indians,  and  on  his  advice,  supported  by  Rev.  Eliphalet  Adams 
of  New  London,  who  began  lecturing  among  them  that  year, 
the  commissioners  voted  that  if  the  Groton  [Ledyard]  minister 
would  take  the  Indians  under  his  care  and  assign  them  a  place 
in  the  meeting-house,  he  should  be  remunerated  for  his  ser- 
vices. This  plan  was  not  fully  carried  out,  though  Dr.  Adams' 
son  William,  who  was  then  supplying  this  church,  labored  for 
a  year  among  the  Indians.  There  were  then  on  the  reserva- 
tion about  one  hundred.  At  this  time  a  school  was  estab- 
lished and  possibly  a  schoolhouse  was  built.  Here  at  least 
Benjamin  Larrabee  and  John  Morgan  taught  for  various  terms. 
In  1749  Rev.  Jacob  W.  Johnson  became  the  minister  and  dur- 
ing his  years  he  lectured  some  and  exercised  a  general  relig- 
ious supervision  over  the  Indians.  The  best  work  there  w^as 
done  by  Indian  teachers.  Samuel  Ashbow  was  both  school- 
master and  preacher  from  1753  to  1757,  and  he  was  succeeded 
by  Samson  Wauby.  Afterwards  one  Hugh  Sweetingham  taught 
for  a  time.  He  who  did  the  best  work  among  them  was  Jacob 
Fowler,  the  brother-in-law  of  Samson  Occom.  His  term  of 
service  began  in  the  winter  of  1770  and  continued  to  Novem- 
ber, 1774,  when  he  was  engaged  as  tutor  in  Dartmouth  Col- 
lege. He  also  preached  in  a  humble  way  there  and  among 
the  Stonington  Indians.  Rev.  Joseph  Fish  in  writing  Governor 
Trumbull,  in  1776,  to  recommend  Fowler  for  government  serv- 
ice, said  "  He  approved  himself  both  skillful  &  faithful  in  his 
business  and  recommended  himself  to  the  esteem  and  respect 
of  all  his  acquaintance  by  an  inoffensive  &:  exemplary  be- 
havior both  in  ye  civil  and  christian  life."  After  him  Abraham 
Simons,  another  of  Wheelock's  pupils,  taught  the  school  until 
the  Revolution  broke  it  up.      Fowler's  salary  at  first  was  £\2 


198  SAMSON  OCCOM 

a  year,  but  he  had  some  assistance  from  the  Indians.  The 
condition  of  these  Pequots  was  inferior  to  that  in  some  other 
settlements.  They  lived  mostly  within  a  square  mile  and 
their  land  was  poor.  So  many,  of  the  men  went  into  the 
Colonial  wars  that  they  were  almost  left  a  tribe  of  widows. 
No  church  ever  existed  among  them,  as  they  attended  with 
the  whites.  In  their  schoolhouse,  however,  they  had  services 
for  the  Indians,  and  there  Jacob  Fowler,  Samuel  Ashbow, 
Samuel  Niles  and  Samson  Occom  preached  ;  the  latter  very 
near  to  them  and  the  bishop  of  the  flock.  There  were  in  this 
settlement  in  1725,  322  souls,  who  were  reduced  to  176  in 
1762.  President  Stiles'  census  the  latter  year  gives  140 
souls — 16  families,  seven  living  in  houses  and  nine  in  wig- 
wams. Rev.  Jacob  W.  Johnson  made  a  list  in  1766,  and  found 
164  souls,  of  whom  eighty-eight  were  children  under  sixteen 
years. 

The  Indians  of  Stonington  were  indebted  to  two  neighbor- 
ing ministers  for  the  best  religious  influences  and  care.  These 
were  Rev.  Nathaniel  Eelis  of  Stonington,  whose  ministry  ex- 
tended from  1733  to  1786,  and  Rev.  Joseph  Fish,  pastor  at 
North  Stonington  from  17.32  to  1781.  During  his  early  years 
Mr.  Eells  lectured  to  the  Indians,  visited  them  and  performed 
such  other  service  as  they  needed ;  but  later  they  were  espe- 
cially under  the  supervision  of  Mr.  Fish,  whose  church  was 
only  three  miles  away.  A  few  were  members  of  these  churches. 
So  early  as  1738  the  Indian  children  were  gathered  into  a 
school  with  the  whites,  the  commissioners  allowing  one  shil- 
ling a  week  for  the  instruction  of  each.  Mr.  Fish  in  1757 
wrote  the  society  some  account  of  their  condition,  in  which  he 
said  they  had  increased  by  accessions  during  the  past  six 
years  from  eight  families  to  sixteen,  seventy-one  persons,  of 
whom  twenty-one  were  children  of  school  age.  At  that  time  he 
revived  his  efforts  among  them,  lecturing  once  a  fortnight.  An 
Indian   school  was  also  established.      Edward   Nedson,  an   In- 


SEVEN  SETTLEMENTS   OF  CHRISTIAN  INDIANS 


199 


dian,  began  to  teach  it  in  his  own  house  February  22,  1758,  a 
room  being  fitted  up  for  the  purpose.  This  Indian  continued 
faithful  in  this  service  until  his  death,  September  i,  1769.  He 
is  said  to  have  been  honest,  prudent  and  useful.  His  widow 
would  not  permit  the  school  to  be  kept  in  her  house  there- 
after, and  in  1772  the  commissioners  voted  to  build  a  school- 
house;  but  the  school  had  seen  its  prosperous  days.  Among 
these  Indians  also  Samson  Occom  ministered  as  he  went  to 
and  fro.     Some  of  them  were  well  advanced  in  civilization. 

The  next  Indian  settlement  to  be  considered  is  Niantic, 
where  the  western  branch  of  that  tribe  lived.  They  had  a 
small  reservation  of  about  300  acres  in  the  eastern  part  of 
Lyme.  In  1734  the  commissioners  at  Boston  considered -the 
establishment  of  a  school  there.  The  matter  was  referred  to 
Messrs.  Mason  and  Adams,  who  reported  adversely  because 
the  Indians,  then  in  a  heathen  state,  were  hostile  to  it  on 
account  of  the  ill  treatment  they  had  received  in  reference  to 
their  lands.  Thereupon  Rev.  George  Griswold  of  East  Lyme 
and  Rev.  Jonathan  Parsons  of  Lyme  petitioned  the  General 
Assembly  in  their  behalf  for  justice  and  the  Indians  became 
more  favorably  disposed.  A  school  was  begun  in  1736,  through 
the  instrumentality  of  the  colony,  and  Governor  Talcott  wrote 
of  it  the  year  following,  "  Our  School  of  Indians  at  Niantik 
prospers."  Then  came  the  religious  awakening.  The  Lyme 
ministers  became  greatly  interested  in  the  natives,  visiting 
them,  lecturing  in  their  settlement,  and  gathering  them  to 
their  own  church  services.  Bibles  and  Psalters  were  dis- 
tributed and  they  were  taught  to  read.  Thirteen  were  received 
into  the  East  Lyme  church,  and  Mr.  Griswold  was  the  faithful 
friend  of  the  tribe  until  his  death  in  1761.  The  school  was 
revived  in  1742,  and  Reuben  Ely  became  the  teacher.  He 
was  followed  by  George  Dorr.  In  1749  David  Latham  was 
engaged  and  he  continued  in  service  down  to  the  Revolution. 
To  him  and  Mr.  Griswold  the  enlightened  condition  of  these 


200  SAMSON  OCCOM 

Indians  was  due.  They  had  no  church  organization  or  sepa- 
rate meeting-house.  Their  schoolhouse  had  a  histor\'.  It  had 
been  built  by  Gideon  Quequawcom  and  was  known  as 
"Gideon's  mantion  house."  Its  location  was  within  "ye 
middle  hundred  acres."  In  1757  this  was  in  the  possession  of 
Joseph  and  Hannah  Piancho,  and  on  March  i8th  they  con- 
veyed it  to  the  commissioners  with  the  land  for  use  as  a  school- 
house.  Here  all  their  Indian  meetings  were  held,  and  Samuel 
Ashbow,  Samson  Occom  and  others  preached.  Philip  Cuish 
was  a  Baptist  minister  of  this  tribe,  a  pious  and  intelligent 
man.  He  also  did  some  ministerial  service  among  this  people, 
and  perhaps  more  honor  is  due  him  than  w'e  have  knowledge 
of.  He  died  in  1780,  and  some  of  his  descendants  removed  to 
the^Oneida  settlement.  This  tribe  had  in  the  year  1725,  163 
souls;  in  1734,  150;  in  1774,  104;  in  1783,80;  in  1830,  17 
and  in  1849,  ^° — such  was  their  decline.  We  cannot  w^onder 
at  it,  for  they  furnished  eleven  soldiers  for  the  Louisburg  expe- 
dition, eighteen  in  the  war  of  1755,  and  a  number  in  the  Revo- 
lution. Most  of  the  families  lived  in  a  village,  which  was  not 
far  from  Black  Point.  In  1761  President  Stiles  found  there 
eleven  houses  and  seven  wigwams. ^^ 

The  Tunxis  Indians  at  Farmington  had  a  very  important 
part  in  the  emigration.  The  English  took  them  under  their 
care  when  they  first  bought  the  lands  in  that  valley.  A  reser- 
vation was  then  made  for  them  on  what  was  called  Indian 
Neck,  and  they  subsequently  acquired  other  lands  so  that  they 
had  about  the  middle  of  the  eighteenth  century  260  acres. 
During   these  early  years   the  Indian  children   were  received 

^^  Stiles  MSS.,  Yale  College,  Itin.  1,425.  A  sketch  of  George  Waukeets  wigwam 
is  here  given  by  President  Stiles.  Its  ground  plan  was  elliptical.  The  fire  was  in 
the  center  and  on  three  sides  around  it  were  sleeping  places.  On  the  fourth  side 
were  two  doors  some  feet  apart.  Seven  persons  could  lie  comfortably  in  it.  Its 
longest  diameter  was  13  feet,  lo^/^  inches,  its  shortest  9  feet,  9!^  inches,  and  its  height 
was  9  feet,  4  inches.  The  Indians  preferred  wigwams  for  the  summer  and  usually 
stripped  them  of  their  covering  and  left  the  poles  standing  from  season  to  season. 


SEVEN  SETTLEMENTS   OF  CHRISTIAN  INDIANS  20I 

into  the  town  school,  but  education  did  not  thrive  among 
them.  In  1732  interest  in  them  was  revived.  Rev.  Samuel 
Whitman  then  began  labors  among  them,  instructing  them 
during  the  following  winter  with  such  success  "that  a  number 
were  brought  to  attend  his  ministry  on  Lord's  days,"  for  which 
he  received  ;^5  from  the  missionary  society.  He  also  brought 
the  matter  to  the  attention  of  Governor  Talcott,  who  used  his 
influence  to  perfect  an  arrangement  whereby  the  commis- 
sioners paid  for  the  Indian  pupils  in  the  English  school.  A 
number  were  then  attendants.  Particular  interest  was  excited 
in  a  youth  about  eighteen  years  of  age,  named  John  Mattawan, 
who  had  shown  himself  desirous  of  obtaining  sufficient  educa- 
tion to  become  a  minister  to  his  people.  They  clothed  him 
after  the  English  fashion,  providing  therefor  a  "  Homespun 
Coat,  Jacket  and  Breeches,  two  Shirts,  Stockings,  Shoes  and 
Hat."  This  was  in  May,  1733,  and  he  continued  under 
instruction,  particularly  of  Mr.  Whitman,  until  1737,  when  he 
became  himself  the  schoolmaster  among  the  Indians,  doing 
also  some  preaching.  The  Indians  themselves  built  a  rude 
schoolhouse  for  the  purpose.  The  number  of  pupils  had  then 
increased  from  the  "nine  Indian  lads"  who  attended  in  1733, 
of  whom  Whitman  wrote  May  27,  1734,  "3  can  read  well  in  a 
testament,  3  currantly  in  a  psalter  and  3  are  in  their  primers." 
Governor  Talcott  gave  the  following  account  of  Mattawan's 
school  in  a  letter,  January  30,  1737-38,  "Our  School  at  Farm- 
ingtown  the  last  sumer  under  the  tuetion  of  John  Tawump  [?] 
the  Indian  Christian  hath  made  very  good  progress,  the  lesser 
children  I  have  ordered  to  be  schooled  at  ye  English  schole, 
and  boarded  by  the  English,  all  at  the  expence  of  this 
Coloney,  as  they  have  been  several  winters  past."  ^^  John 
Mattawan  drops  out  of  notice  in  1748,  and  is  believed  to  have 
died  that  year.     He  did  a  good  work  in  laying  the  foundations 

12  Conn.   Hist.  Soc.  Coll..,  V,  39;  Conn.  Col.  Rec,  VII,  102,  471,  491,  509;  VIII,  6, 
37- 


202  .         SAMSON  OCCOM 

of  education  and  religion  in  the  tribe.  In  1751  Mr.  Whitman 
died ;  and  although  his  successor,  Rev.  Timothy  Pitkin,  main- 
tained an  interest  in  the  Indians  and  some  youth  attended  the 
English  school,  the  work  for  a  time  declined. 

The  original  Tunxis  stock  had  nearly  died  out  before  this 
work  began.  In  the  year  1725  there  w^ere  only  about  fifty 
Indians  in  the  town.  But  about  the  middle  of  that  century 
they  received  accessions  from  the  Quinnipiacs  of  East  Haven 
and  the  Wangunks  of  Middletow^n.  Most  prominent  among 
the  former  was  Adam,  whose  children  and  grandchildren,  under 
the  name  Adams,  were  strong  supporters  of  the  emigration 
movement.  James  Wowowous  and  David  ,Towsey  were  either 
of  the  Wangunk  tribe  or  had  married  among  them,  as  they 
claimed  rights  in  Middletown  lands  in  1762.  The  youth  of 
these  families  obtained  an  education  in  the  Farmington  school. 
These  additions  revived  the  strength  of  the  tribe,  and  they 
made  decided  advances  in  civilization.  Some  of  them  became 
exemplary  Christians,  among  them  Solomon  Mossuck,  who 
joined  the  Farmington  church  in  June,  1763,  and  his  wife, 
Eunice,  who  joined  in  September,  1765. 

We  turn  on  now  to  a  later  period  which  greatly  affected  the 
future  of  this  tribe.  The  story  picks  up  the  thread  of  Joseph 
Johnson's  life.  After  his  radical  reformation,  as  related,  he 
entered  with  zeal  into  missionary  work  among  the  Indians. 
Occom  had  occasionally  visited  the  Christian  Indians  at  Farm- 
ington. In  the  hut  of  Solomon  Mossuck,  the  foremost  in  such 
matters,  he  held  services  at  many  an  evening  hour.  Possibly 
it  was  thus  ihat  Johnson  was  directed. thither.  On  the  15th 
of  November,  1772,  he  began  work  there  as  schoolmaster  and 
preacher.  His  school  w-as  kept  in  a  small  log  house  situated 
on  the  Indian  lands  then  known  as  the  "  West  Woods."  A 
number  of  Indian  children  were  at  once  gathered.  Every 
Sunday  he  assembled  the  tribe  for  worship,  and  some  of  his 
sermons  then  preached  are  still  preserved  by  the  Connecticut 


SEVEN  SETTLEMENTS   OF  CHRISTIAN  INDIANS  203 

Historical  Society.  He  was  under  the  pay  of  the  commis- 
•  sioners  at  Boston  and  the  supervision  of  Rev.  Timothy 
Pitkin.  His  salary  was  ;^2o  a  year.  On  the  2d  of  December, 
1773,  he  was  married  by  Rev.  Ephraim  Judson  of  Norwich  to 
Tabitha,  the  daughter  of  Samson  Occom,  and  they  established 
a  home  among  the  Indians.  Probably  it  was  through  a  visit 
of  Olive  Occom  to  her  sister  that  she  became  the  wife  of 
Solomon  Adams,  a  grandson  of  Adam  the  Quinnipiac.  Johnson 
continued  in  this  field  until  the  summer  of  1774,  when  he  was 
ordained  at  Hanover,  N.  H.,  on  the  twenty-fifth  of  August,  in 
the  expectation  of  undertaking  a  westward  mission.  Many  of 
the  Tunxis  Indians  felt  his  influence.  Converts  were  made 
under  his  ministry,  and  possibly  some  sort  of  a  covenant  organ- 
ization was  effected.  After  his  departure  these  fires  were 
kept  alive  by  Samson  Occom  on  his  visits  thither  until 
most  of  the  tribe  removed  to  Stockbridge,  Mass.,  or  to  the 
Oneida  settlement.  The  people  of  Farmington  have  erected 
in  their  cemetery  a  monument  to  these  early  inhabitants;  but 
the  grave  of  one  most  deserving  of  honor  is  not  there.  Near 
the  railway  station,  on  the  left  of  the  road  leading  up  from  the 
meadows  as  it  turns  southward,  on  the  wooded  hill  are  some 
Indian  graves.  There  probably  John  Mattawan's  schoolhouse 
stood,  and  there  sleep  the  Christian  Indians  who  died  in  their 
native  valley,  and  among  them  is  a  neglected  •grave  whose 
stone  bears  the  epitaph,  "In  Memory  of  Solomon  Mossuck 
who  died  January  25th  1802.     Aged  78  years." 

We  have  already  an  acquaintance  with  the  missionary 
labors  at  Montauk,  L.  I. — the  sixth  Indian  settlement  con- 
cerned in  the  emigration.  After  David  Fowler  left  the  Oneida 
mission  in  1767  he  was  employed  at  Montauk  as  schoolmaster 
by  the  commissioners  of  the  missionary  society.  His  term 
dates  from  their  vote  to  that  effect,  December  29,  1767.  He 
had  a  salary  of  only  ^15  a  year,  and  as  his  family  was  increas- 
ing, his  father  being  in  feeble  health,  it  became  necessary  for 


204  SAMSON  OCCOM 

him  to  devote  much  time  to  agriculture  and  fishing.  His 
father's  house  burned  also  and  he  lost  all  his  property.  In 
consequence  there  was  some  complaint  that  he  neglected  the 
school,  and  in  1770  he  was  succeeded  by  David  Hannibal, 
who  was  given  ^20  a  year.  Here,  however,  David  Fowler 
continued  to  live  until  he  took  up  the  pioneer  work  of  the 
emigration. 

It  will  be  noted  that  Mohegan  was  about  in  the  center  of 
these  Indian  settlements — a  convenient  place  for  Samson 
Occom  to  live.  He  was  not  under  the  commission  of  any 
missionary  society;  but  he  was  in  a  sense  the  missionary  of 
all  the  tribes  of  southern  New  England.  He  frequently,  also, 
journeyed  abroad,  to  Boston,  Providence,  New  York  and 
Philadelphia,  and  incidentally  did  much  to  keep  the  interest 
in  the  Indians  alive. 

We  are  about  to  leave  Mohegan,  and  it  may  not  be  amiss  to 
look  on  into  its  future  that  the  reader  may  have  its  completed 
story.  It  sometimes  happens,  in  the  history  of  missions,  that 
a  new  shoot  is  grafted  into  a  stem  of  an  older  stock.  So  it 
was  at  Mohegan.  Years  passed,  and  the  Indians  of  Samson 
Occom's  generation  were  gathered  in  the  tribal  burial-place  on 
the  bluff  overlooking  the  Thames.  Isaiah  Uncas,  Wheelock's 
pupil,  died  April  6,  1770,  and  the  sachemship  became  extinct. 
The  aged  co*uncilor,  Zachary  Johnson,  of  whom  so  many  inci- 
dents are  related,  died  in  1789.  Rev.  Samuel  Ashbow,  who 
continued  to  live  at  Mohegan  after  the  emigration  and  whose 
four  sons,  Samuel,  Simeon,  James  and  John,  perished  in  the 
Revolution,  was  at  length  released  from  his  labors  in  1795. 
A  few  of  Occom's  descendants  lingered  thereabouts  for  some 
years.  His  house  stood  on  the  hillside  still,  a  monument  of 
the  olden  time,  whither  visitors  occasionally  came  to  view  it, 
and  among  them  the  Connecticut  antiquary,  Barber,  to  make  a 
pencil  sketch  of  it.  One  only  of  the  old  Christian  stock 
remained   in    1827 — Lucy  Tantaquidgeon,   the   aged  sister  of 


SEVEN  SETTLEMENTS   OF  CHRISTIAN  INDIANS  205 

Samson  Occom.  She  was  the  only  Indian  church-member  on 
the  reservation,  and,  in  the  phrase  of  Father  Gleason,  "  a  new 
life  was  grafted  in  upon  her." 

The  division  of  lands  dating  from  Aug.  5,  1782,  had  made 
it  possible  for  many  to  drift  away,  although  this  tribe,  more 
than  almost  any  other  of  New  England,  retained  a  love  for  the 
ancestral  home.  So  the  Mohegans  had  gradually  diminished 
and  come  into  a  condition  of  deplorable  neglect.  In  1827, 
however,  Miss  Sarah  L.  Huntington  of  Norwich,  with  charac- 
teristic missionary  zeal,  awakened  an  interest  in  them.^^ 
A  Sabbath-school  was  first  opened  in  Occom's  house,  which 
she  and  her  friends  taught.  On  the  Fort  Hill  farm,  the  land 
being  given  by  the  daughter  and  granddaughter  of  Occom's 
sister,  a  small  chapel  was  erected  in  183 1,  costing  about  $700, 
which  was  mostly  provided  by  ladies  of  the  neighboring  towns. 
This  event  Mrs.  Sigourney  commemorated  in  her  lines  : 

Lo  !  where  a  savage  fortress  frown'd 
Amid  your  blood-cemented  ground, 
A  hallowed  dome,  with  peaceful  claim,  ^ 
Shall  bear  the  meek  Redeemer's  name. 

At  the  foot  of  the  hill  southward,  which  probably  had  been 
the  site  of  the  ancient  schoolhouse,  a  week-day  school  was 
established,  and  near  by  a  parsonage  was  built  in  1832,  with 
funds  provided  by  the  United  States  government,  which  also 
granted  $400  annually  for  the  salary  of  a  teacher.  Here  Rev. 
Anson  Gleason,  who  had  been  a  teacher  among  the  Choctaws, 
settled  in  the  spring  of  1832.  A  Congregational  church  was 
formed  that  year,  and  in  1835  Mr.  Gleason  was  ordained  as 
the  minister.  Here  he  remained  until  1848,  known  in  all  the 
region  round  about  as  "  Father  Gleason."     He  was  a  remark- 

13  On  this  movement  see  :  Memoirs  of  Mrs.  Sarah  L.  HiDitingtoii  Sviith  ;  De 
Forest's  Indians  of  Cottticcticut,  pp.  482-489;  The  Bostonia1^,^\?^vc\\,  \?>c)^,  p.  676 
ff ;  Barber's  Conn.  Hist.  Collections,  pp.  33S-340 ;  Contributions  to  the  Ecc.  Hist,  of 
Cotin.,  pp.  427,  428  ;  and  a  newspaper,  The  Uncas  Momitncnt,  1S42. 


2o6  "  SAMSON  OCCOM 

able  man  in  his  place,  of  a  winning  personality  and  sincere 
devotion,  well  adapted  to  such  missionary  labors.  His  mem- 
ory is  revered  to  this  day  among  the  few  remaining  Mohegans. 
Other  ministers  followed  him.  A  fund  was  given  by  the  good 
woman  who  established  this  work  for  its  maintenance,  which 
others  have  added  to,  so  that  it  now  amounts  to  $3,500,  and 
the  income  is  employed  by  the  trustee,  H.  R.  Bond,  Esq.,  of 
New  London,  in  watching  over  the  religious  interests  of  those 
Indians  and  whites  who  still  worship  in  the  remodeled  chapel 
on  the  hill.  Lucy  Tantaquidgeon,  who  was  born  about  the 
time  the  Mohegans  emerged  from  heathenism,  witnessed  all 
the  changes,  struggles  and  labors  of  a  century;  and,  preserv- 
ing to  an  extraordinary  age  the  pious  impressions  which  her 
mother  had  made  upon  her  in  childhood  and  her  distinguished 
brother  had  deepened  in  maturer  life,  she  at  last  fell  asleep. 


CHAPTER  xrr 

THE    PLAN    OF    EMIGRATION    TO    ONEIDA 
1771-1776 

The  Indian  Charity  School  having  been  established  at  Han- 
over, its  founder,  Doctor  Wheelock,  would  gladly  have  revived 
his  friendly  relations  with  the  Western  tribes,  but  it  was  impos- 
sible. He  had  long  been  supplanted  there  by  Samuel  Kirk- 
land,  the  most  successful  white  missionary  of  his  time.  Still, 
the  father  could  not  forget  his  children.  Hoping  to  cultivate  the 
good  seed  he  had  sown  in  the  Oneida  country,  he  proposed  in  a 
letter  to  Samson  Occom,  January  22,  1771,  that  he  and  David 
Fowler  should  remove  thither  with  their  families  and  become 
teachers  among  the  Six  Nations,  promising  them  the  same  sup- 
port given  for  that  service  among  the  seashore  tribes.  At  the 
time  this  proposition  could  not  be  accepted  ;  but  it  may  have 
suggested  to  Occom,  already  solicitous  in  regard  to  the  future 
of  the  Indians  in  New  England,  the  larger  plan  for  the  emigra- 
tion of  all  the  Christian  Indians.  Surely  the  design  was  a  de- 
velopment in  the  mind  of  Samson  Occom  and  new  features 
were  added  as  other  reasons  for  it  were  presented.  As  finally 
matured,  it  included  the  seven  settlements  of  Indians  which 
had  come  to  be  associated  in  missionary  operations,  viz.,  those 
at  Charlestown,  Groton,  Stonington,  Niantic,  Farmington, 
Montauk  and  Mohegan.  This  movement  is  sometimes 
referred  to  as  an  emigration  of  seven  tribes.  It  was  not.  There 
was  no  expectation  that  all  of  any  tribe  or  in  any  settlement 
would  remove.  Only  those  who  had  been  drawn  together  by 
Christian  influences  at  first  thought  of  it,  though  provision  was 
afterwards  made,  necessarily,  for  such  as  desired  to  join  them. 

The  earliest  idea  seems  to  have  been  to  improve  their  own 

207 


208  SAMSON  OCCOM 

condition  by  a  removal  from  the  corrupting  influences  about 
them.  They  also  needed  lands  of  larger  extent  and  better 
quality  than  they  then  possessed.  It  had  come  about,  through 
the  clever  dealings  of  the  whites,  that  there  were  very  few  acres 
in  any  of  these  settlements  well  adapted  to  agriculture.  If 
they  must  depend  upon  the  soil  they  wisely  concluded  that 
they  must  remove  to  some  unsettled  region  and  take  up  a  new 
claim.  Occom,  the  Fowlers  and  Joseph  Johnson  were  familiar 
with  the  Oneida  country.  They  had  no  doubt  that  lands  could 
be  had  for  the  asking  from  their  Indian  friends.  So  a  prospect 
of  new  homes  was  inviting.  As  this  matter  was  considered 
further  the  missionary  purpose  was  added.  Occom  had  long 
held  that  something  beside  the  missionary  was  needed  among 
the  Six  Nations — the  living  example  of  a  Christian  community. 
David  Fowler  had  urged  upon  his  patron  the  introduction  of 
agriculture  among  the  Oneidas.  So  the  scheme  naturally 
grew  to  this,  that  they  would  establish  in  the  midst  of  the 
Western  Indians  such  a  community  "  with  a  view  of  introducing 
the  religion  of  Jesus  Christ  by  their  example  among  benighted 
Indians  in  the  wilderness,  and  also  of  introducing  agriculture 
among  them." 

Moreover,  Occom  believed  that  the  Indian  never  would  be- 
come civilized  unless  he  was  brought  to  depend  upon  the  soil 
for  subsistence.  We  can  easily  see  how  his  missionary  expe- 
rience had  led  him  to  this  conclusion.  Yet  this  end,  he  thought, 
could  not  be  reached  unless  the  Indian  held  land  which  he 
could  not  alienate,  for  in  his  straits  he  would  be  unable  to 
resist  the  temptation  to  sell  himself  out  of  house  and  home. 
Hence  he  proposed  from  the  first  to  prevent  this  disintegra- 
tion of  his  Indian  colony  by  making  such  sales  impossible. 
The  sequel  shows  how  exactly  he  anticipated  the  situation. 

The  last  feature  of  his  plan  to  be  developed  concerned  the 
government  of  this  new  community.  It  was  evident  that  their 
old  tribal  relations  would  be  broken  up,  and  they  were  doubt- 


THE   PLAN  OF  EMIGRATION   TO    ONEIDA  209 

less  glad  of  it,  for  they  had  become  too  democratic  to  live 
under  a  chief.  At  Mohegan  and  Charlestown  these  Indians 
had  protested  for  years  against  the  power  exercised  by  their 
sachems.  Still,  their  hereditary  tribal  instincts  and  customs 
could  not  be  ignored.  So  they  decided  to  form  a  new  tribe, 
governed  by  such  rulers  as  they  might  select.  Their  model 
was  the  Connecticut  town  government,  with  which  they  were 
familiar.  Such  a  town  they  would  establish,  in  which  they 
would  be  voters ;  and,  as  they  purposed  to  live  together  as 
"brothers,"  they  had  an  appropriate  name  for  their  town  and 
tribe — Brothertown,  which  was  probably  suggested  to  them 
by  Brainerd's  settlement  of  that  name,  now  Indian  Mills,  Pa. 
They  intended  also  to  organize  themselves  in  church  estate 
and  have  a  minister  who  should  instruct  them  in  religion. 
How  far  the  surviving  Indian  town  of  John  Eliot  influenced 
Occom  in  this  matter,  if  at  all,  it  is  impossible  to  state.  He 
had  visited  Natick  and  was  probably  acquainted  with  its  bet- 
ter days.  The  white  man's  town  government  certainly  fur- 
nished his  main  ideas,  and  from  a  copy  of  the  Connecticut 
statutes,  which  they  took  with  them,  some  of  their  laws  were 
borrowed.  Occom  was  unable  to  carry  out  his  plan  in  all  re- 
spects. Other  conditions  than  those  which  he  had  antici- 
pated interposed  when  at  last  Brothertown  was  founded.  He 
deserves,  however,  the  credit  of  having  devised  a  scheme 
which  had  some  original  and  interesting  features.  This  Indian 
town  was  unique  in  our  American  history. 

The  carrying  out  of  this  plan  was  due  in  large  measure  to 
Joseph  Johnson,  the  son-in-law  of  Samson  Occom.  He  had 
an  extraordinary  energy.  He  was  young  and  could  easily 
travel  to  and  fro,  awakening  interest  in  the  subject  and  per- 
fecting arrangements.  Withal  he  was  a  natural  diplomat, 
exhibiting  great  tact  in  treating  with  the  Oneidas  and  in  unify- 
ing the  relations  of  the  New  England  tribes.  He  brought 
Occom's  plan  into  a  vigorous  life. 
'5 


2IO  SAMSON  OCCOM 

The  first  move  was  to  have  a  general  gathering  of  the 
Indians.  This  was  held  at  Mohegan,  March  13,  1773,  and 
was  attended  by  men,  women  and  children.  We  have  no 
detailed  account  of  this  meeting;  but  after  considerable  con- 
sultation in  the  Indian  fashion,  it  was  decided  to  send  repre- 
sentatives, one  from  each  settlement,  to  look  up  a  suitable 
tract  of  land  in  the  Oneida  country.  On  account  of  their 
spring  work  this  proposed  visit  was  delayed ;  but  Johnson  sent 
a  messenger  to  Sir  William  Johnson  to  seek  his  advice.  He 
gave  them  encouragement,  and  in  their  behalf  sent  a  message 
to  the  Oneidas  on  the  matter.  That  summer  he  was  in  the 
east  at  the  seashore  and  there  nine  of  the  Indians  waited  upon 
him  and  received  his  promise  to  secure  for  them  lands  among 
the  Oneidas,  which  was  to  be  effected  on  his  return  to  Johnson 
Hall  in  the  autumn.  Here  follows  the  circular  letter  sent  out 
by  Joseph  Johnson  in  the  affair  :  ^ 

Farmington,  Ocf^  13*''  A  D  1773. 
This  once  more,  we  of  this  Tribe  at  Farmington  send  greeting  to  all  our 
Indian  Brethren  at  Mohegan,  Nihantuck,  Pequtt,  Stonington,  Narragansett 
and  Montauk,  Brethren.  We  love  you,  and  wish  your  well-being  both  in 
this  Life  and  that  which  is  to  come.  We  ask  your  Serious  Attentions  a 
Moment.  Dear  Brethren,  with  humility  we  undertake  to  write  you,  beging 
that  ye  would  remember  the  Affair  of  which  we  so  earnestly  talked  last 
Spring  at  the  Town  of  Mohegan.  We  beg  that  ye  would  this  once  more 
take  this  Affair  under  your  deliberate  Consideration,  let  it  not  drop  through 
since  we  have  encouragements  on  every  side.  We  have  encouragement 
from  His  Honour,  Sir  William  Johnson,  Baronet,  and  things  look  promising, 
let  us  take  Courage  friends  and  let  us  step  forward  like  men  We  beg  that 
ye  would  by  all  means  Send  a  Man  out  of  Each  Tribe,  that  they  may  go 
with  us,  and  Seek  a  Country  for  our  Brethren,  is  it  not  worth  while.  Surely 
it  is.  be  so  good  as  to  Show  yourselves  men,  for  General  Johnson  Expects 
us  at  his  house  [the]  last  of  this  month,  and  if  we  do  not  make  our  appear- 
ance, he  will  think  that  we  are  only  talkers,  and  not  worthy  of  Notice,  how 
foolish  shall  we  feel  if  we  be  despised  by  General  Johnson.  But  dear 
Brethren,  we  will  not  multiply  words,  seeing  that  ye  are  men,  and  it  is  to  be 
hoped  wise  men.     Consider  of  things,  and  do   that  which  is  right,  by  no 

1  Wheelock  Papers,  Dart.  Coll. ;  and  Co7in.  Hist.  Soc.^  Indian  Paiers. 


THE   PLAN  OF  EMIGRATION   TO    ONEIDA  211 

means  be  discouraged,  but  dear  Brethren,  let  us  put  our  trust  in  that  God 
who  ruleth  in  the  Armies  of  Heaven,  and  doeth  his  pleasure  among  the 
Inhabitants  of  this  lower  World — if  God  be  for  us  this  is  Enough,  he  can 
comfort  us  Even  in  a  Wilderness.  let  us  consider  of  our  Condirton,  let  us 
think  of  our  Children,  let  us  think  of  time  to  come.  We  mention  these 
things  to  put  you  in  Remembrance. 

Brethren,  if  the  men  chosen  last  spring  be  backward  to  go  to  the  Mohawk 
Country  be  so  good  as  to  Send  others  in  their  room,  and  Encourage  one 
another,  if  Money  is  scarce,  let  us  try  to  carry  little  provisions  in  our 
Packs,  which  will  be  of  considerable  help,  let  the  men  that  go  try  to  get  the 
good  will  of  the  Women  and  let  the  kind  women  make  little  Yoke-hegg. 
We  will  try  to  help  them  with  little  Provisions  when  they  go  from  here, 
our  kind  W^omen  send  a  word  of  Encouragement  and  say  that  they  will 
make  little  yoke  hegg  to  give  to  the  travellers. 

So  we  must  End.     Wishing  you  all  well :  and  we  would  beg  that   those 
men  that  shall  go,  come  to  our  town  be  sure  by  the  23'^  day  of  this  Month, 
as  we  purpose  to  Set  of  from  here  the  25"'  of  October,  or  of  this  month. 
Let  all  Christians  pray  for  us  every  Day.     So  farewell. 
We  whose  Names  are  underneath  are  united  in  those  things  that  are  con- 
tained in  this  Letter. 

Sam^i  adamas.  Joseph  Johnson. 

Andrew  Corcemp.  Scripsit 

Charles  Wimpey. 

Moses  Sanchuse. 

Thomas  Corcemp. 

Solomon  Mosuck 

Daniel  mossuck 

At  the  time  appointed,  the  only  messengers  who  went  were 
Joseph  Johnson  and  Elijah  Wampyof  Farmington.  A  rumor  of 
impending  war  in  that  country  discouraged  the  rest  from  going. 
Five  Oneidas  met  them  at  Johnson  Hall  on  the  twenty-seventh 
of  October,  and  in  behalf  of  their  tribe  mad^  a  gift  of  lands  to 
the  New  England  Indians.  A  record  of  this  transaction  was 
given  to  Joseph  Johnson,  and  is  preserved  among  the  Whee- 
lock  papers.  These  messengers  returned  in  November,  and 
Joseph  Johnson  himself  carried  their  answer  through  the  In- 
dian settlements.  The  affair  had  thus  progressed  so  far  that 
a  conference  with  the  Oneidas  was  determined  on,  partly  to 
ask  for  more  than  the  ten  miles  square  which  had  been  prom- 


212  SAAfSOiY  OCCOM 

ised.  Samuel  Kirkland  had  advised  them  that  they  could  as 
easily  secure  a  larger  tract.  .Again  Joseph  Johnson  sent  a 
circular  letter  to  the  seven  towns,  December  24,  1773,  urging 
each  to  send  a  representative.-  This  was  also  signed  by  some 
of  the  Tunxis  tribe — Solomon  Mossuck,  Elijah  Wampy,  Dan- 
iel Mossuck,  Andrew  Corcomp,  Solomon  Adams  and  David 
Robin.  The  first  week  of  the  following  January  four  set  out, 
though  the  ground  was  covered  with  snow.  Joseph  Johnson 
went  for  Mohegan,  Jacob  Fowler  for  Montauk  and  Groton, 
Samuel  Tobias  for  Charlestown,  and  Elijah  Wampy  for  Farm- 
ington.  Two  of  these  gave  out  and  returned;  the  other  two 
arrived  safely  at  Kanawarohare,  where,  in  the  council-house, 
Joseph  Johnson  delivered  the  following  address  :^ 

Kanoarohare,  January  the  20"',  1774. 
A  Speech  to  the  Indians, 

Our  dear  and  well  beloved  Brethren.  It  is  with  much  pleasure  that 
we  see  so  many  of  you  assembled  together  at  this  time,  and  upon  this  Occa- 
sion. We  give  you  our  great  respects,  and  Sincere  Love.  We  look  upon  you 
at  present  as  our  Elder  Brother  as  a  Nation,  and  Beloved  Brethren.  We 
pray  you  to  consider  of  us,  hearken  to  us  as  a  younger  Brother,  not  only 
consider  of  us  as  two  persons,  but  view  us  to  be  Speaking,  or  acting  for  all 
our  l^rethren  in  New  England,  or  at  least  for  Seven  towns.  We  pray  you 
to  consider  Seriously  of  our  Words.  Ye  old  men  who  are  wise,  also  ye  war- 
riors, and  young  men,  yea  let  children  hearken  that  what  we  say  may  not  soon 
be  forgotten.  Brethren,  in  the  first  place  we  will  acquaint  you  of  the  State  & 
Circumstances  of  our  New  England  Brethren,  and  we  will  inform  you  of 
our  Proceedings  &  purposes.  Brethren  we  in  New  England,  or  at  least 
many  of  us  are  very  poor  by  reason  of  the  Ignorance  of  our  forefathers  who 
are  now  dead.  Brethren  ye  know  that  the  English  are  a  wise  People  and 
can  see  great  ways,  but  some  say,  that  Indians  cant  see  but  a  little  ways, 
and  we  believe  that  our  forefathers  could  not  see  but  little  ways.  Brethren, 
ye  also  know  that  some  English  loves  to  take  the  advantage  of  poor  blind 
Indians.  So  it  was  in  the  days  of  our  forefathers  in  New  England,  but  not 
to  expose  the  unjust  act  of  our  English  Brethren  I  shall  not  say  much  more 

2  Wheelock  Papers,  Dart.  Coll. ;  and  Conn.  Hist.  Soc,  Indian  Papers. 

3  Copies  of  his  addresses  in  Johnson's  handwriting  are  among  the  Wheelock  Pa- 
pet's  ■^.v^d  in  tlie  Conn.  Hist.  Soc.,  Indian  Papers.  The  answers  are  among  the  Whee- 
lock Papers. 


THE   FLAN  OF  EMIGRATION   TO    ONEIDA  213 

about  them,  least  I  cast  a  prejudice  against  tiie  English  in  your  hearts,  as 
notwithstanding  many  are  unjust  amongst  the  English,  yet  there  are  great 
many  of  them  good  men,  &  love  the  Indians  from  the  bottom  of  their  hearts 
and  wishes  us  all  a  well  being  in  this  World  &  in  the  World  to  come  ever- 
lasting Life,  but  all  I  have  to  say  about  the  English  at  present  is  this,  that 
whilst  our  forefathers  were  blind  and  Ignorant,  yea  drownded  in  Liquors 
the  English  striped  them,  yea  they  as  it  were  cut  off  their  right  hands,  and 
now  we  their  Children  just  opening  their  Eyes,  and  knowledge  growing  in  our 
hearts  and  just  come  to  our  Senses,  like  a  drunken  man,  I  say  we  now  be- 
gin to  look  around  and  we  perceive  that  we  are  Striped  indeed,  nothing  to 
help  ourselves.  Thus  our  English  Brethren  leaves  us  and  laugh.  So  now 
Brethren  we  leave  the  English,  those  who  have  acted  unjustly  toward 
us  in  New  England,  and  say  we  leave  them  all  in  the  hands  of  that  God 
who  knoweth  all  things,  and  will  reward  every  one  according  to  their  deeds 
whether  good  or  evil. 

Brethren  we  seeing  ourselves  in  such  circumstances  began  last  spring  to 
consider  together  and  the  13th  day  of  the  Last  March  1773,  ^  Meeting  was 
appointed  at  Mohegan,  that  being  nigh  the  Center,  and  there  was  a  vast 
number  of  People,  Men  Women  &  Children.  There  we  met  and  there  we 
consulted  together — There  was  present  at  the  meeting  Indians  of  Seven 
towns  and  it  was  proposed  that  Certain  men  out  of  every  town  should  go 
out  and  Seek  a  Place  somewhere  for  us  Seven  towns  to  settle  down  together 
in  peace.  Some  were  of  a  mind  to  go  Southward  as  for  as  to  Ohio,  and  some 
not  so  far  that  way.  Some  said  we  could  purchase  land  nigher  and  it  would 
not  do  to  live  so  far  from  the  English.  At  last  it  came  into  our  minds  to 
try  to  purchase  some  land  from  some  of  the  Six  nations.  So  a  time  was 
appointed  by  our  great  men,  our  Councilers  &  teachers  that  these  chosen 
men  should  go  forth  one  out  of  every  town  to  Seek  a  place  for  us  to  settle 
on,  and  as  our  Spring  work  was  coming  on,  our  head  men  thought  proper 
that  those  chosen  men  should  not  go  till  the  hurrying  work  was  over,  that 
is  after  mowing  &  reaping,  and  as  it  pleased  the  Tribes  to  chose  me  for 
one  that  should  come  into  these  parts,  to  try  to  get  some  land  upon  some 
terms,  I  thought  proper  to  send  to  his  Honour  Sir  William  Johnson  for  ad- 
\  ice  in  this  affair,  and  I  wrote  a  letter  to  Sir  William  and  acquainted  hmi 
of  all  our  circumstances  and  our  desires  &  purposes,  and  it  pleased  His 
Honor  to  take  notice  of  us  and  sent  back  a  word  of  Encouragement  which 
made  our  hearts  glad,  and  about  the  time  that  we  was  to  come  up,  his  Honor 
Sir  WiHiam  Johnson  was  down  in  that  part  of  the  Country,  which  hindered 
us  from  coming  up.  There  we  had  opportunity  to  speak  with  his  Honor  Sir 
William,  9  of  our  countrymen  went  to  see  Sir  William,  and  he  used  us  very 
kindlv,  and  still  gave  us  Encouragement.  So  we  have  been  encouraged 
from  time  to  time,  also  Sir  William  Johnson  appointed  a  time  for  some  of 


214  '  SAA/SO.V  OCCOM 

our  Countrymen  to  come  up  in  these  parts  and  that  was  last  fall  It  pleased 
Sir  William  to  tell  us  that  he  would  help  us  as  much  as  he  could  &  advise  us 
in  the  affair.  And  according  to  the  advice  of  his  Honor  some  of  us  came  to 
His  house  last  fall,  and  he  received  us  gladly  to  his  house  &  showd  us  great 
respect,  two  of  us  came  up,  the  reason  we  supposed  that  no  more  came  up 
to  his  Honors  house  was  this.  We  heard  that  it  was  dangerous  times.  We 
heard  that  there  was  a  considerable  talk  of  war  amongst  the  Indians  in 
these  parts,  which  discouraged  many  of  our  Brethren.  But  when  we  came 
to  Sir  William's,  he  informed  us  otherwise,  also  he  told  us  the  Message 
which  you  Oneidas  sent  down  to  him,  for  which  he  was  glad,  and  our  minds 
was  disposed  to  come  even  to  this  town  to  converse  with  you  more  particu- 
larly, but  according  to  your  desire  &  the  advice  of  Sir  William  we  returned 
back  from  Sir  William's  after  he  had  acquainted  us  of  your  good  will.  At 
that  time  Sir  W^illiam  delivered  to  us  few  lines  so  as  we  might  shew  it  to  our 
New  England  Brethren.  In  them  few  lines  was  contained  the  answer  which 
you  made  to  Sir  William's  Message  sent  to  you  by  Saghuagarat  one  of  your 
Chiefs,  concerning  the  Intention  of  our  New  England  Brethren  of  remov- 
ing to  this  part  of  the  World  if  consistent  with  the  minds  of  you  our  Elder 
Brethren,  not  only  consistent  with  your  minds,  but  also  the  mind  of  His 
Honor  Sir  W^illiam.  Yea  here  in  my  hand  is  the  writing  drawn  from  the 
Records  of  his  Honor  Sir  William,  which  if  you  pleace  ye  may  hear  so  as 
things  past  may  be  fresh  in  your  memory  again.     .     .     . 

This  Paper  or  writing  I  carried  with  my  own  hand  through  six  towns  of 
Indians  in  New  England,  and  at  every  town  I  called  the  People  together 
both  Small  and  great,  Male  and  female,  and  they  received  the  good  news 
with  great  Joy.  I  did  not  go  to  the  7th  town,  by  reason  of  the  inconveniency 
of  going  by  water,  and  also  my  Business  called  me  to  be  at  home,  so  I  made 
as  much  haste  as  possible.  However  they  have  heard  of  your  goodwill  and 
purposed  to  send  one  from  that  tribe  but  the  wind  perhaps  was  contrary  so 
as  he  could  not  get  over  to  the  Main.  From  the  town  where  I  live  at  pres- 
ent we  sent  a  young  man  down  to  our  Brethren  a  few  days  before  we  sat 
away  to  stir  thern  up  or  to  awake  them,  and  to  tell  them  that  the  time  is 
drawing  nigh  when  we  should  go  to  visit  our  Western  Brethren,  and  to  dis- 
course with  them  more  particularly,  so  as  we  might  be  fully  satisfied  what 
to  do  in  the  next  place,  how  we  shall  take  the  next  step.  But  our  Brethren 
thought  it  not  necessary  to  send  great  many  at  this  time  the  reason  is  this, 
because  there  is  a  great  body  of  snow  on  the  face  of  the  Earth,  which  would 
hinder  them  from  seeing  the  ground.  If  there  was  no  Snow  doubtless  some 
of  our  Elder  Brethren  would  now  be  present  at  this  meeting  to  converse 
with  you,  but  my  friends  we  hope  that  ye  will  not  be  angry  at  us  because 
there  is  no  more  of  us  come  to  this  place.  There  was  four  of  us,  from  four 
different  towns  set  away  together,  but  two  of  Our  Companions  gave  out,  the 


THE   PLAN  OF  EMIGRATION   TO   ONEIDA  215 

one  his  hip  failed  him,  the  other  his  back,  and  they  returned,  we  dont  know 
how  it  is  with  them.  But  God  who  is  good  and  doeth  good  continually 
gave  us  health  and  strength,  and  prospered  us  in  the  way  and  hath  safely 
brought  us  to  this  place,  and  art  now  allowing  us  an  opportunity  to  see  your 
faces  in  Comfort,  and  to  converse  with  you  in  peace  at  this  time.  So  to 
him  we  give  our  thanks  at  this  time  for  all  his  goodness  towards  us.  We 
rejoice  that  God  gave  us  favour  in  the  Eye  of  His  Honor  Sir  William 
Johnson,  and  we  rejoice  that  God  gave  us  favour  in  your  Eyes,  and  we  are 
glad  to  hear  that  ye  found  it  in  your  hearts  to  pity  us  and  our  Brethren  in 
New  England  when  ye  heard  of  our  Circumstances.  And  not  only  we 
thank  you,  but  all  our  BretTiren  in  New  England  give  you  their  hearty 
thanks,  Yea  we  have  reason  to  rejoice.  We  thought  to  purchase  land  of 
you,  but  we  are  glad  that  it  is  in  your  hearts  to  give  us  land,  yea  we  thank 
you  that  ye  have  given  us  so  much  already. 

Brethren,  this  Silver  pipe  was  sent  to  me  &  the  tobacco  pouch  with  it  to 
d-spose  of  according  to  the  advise  of  Sir  William  Johnson,  and  His  Honour 
Sir  William  received  us  gladly  at  this  time  also  and  he  told  me  to  deliver 
the  Pipe  to  the  Chiefs  at  the  meeting,  and  to  let  it  be  kept  in  the  Council 
house  continually,  so  at  your  assemblies  ye  might  look  on  it,  &  smoke  out 
of  it,  &  remember  us  New  England  Indians.  Sir  William  also  said  per- 
haps ye  would  think  it  odd  if  there  was  no  tobacco  in  the  pouch,  so  he  was 
pleased  to  put  some  in,  and  sent  it  to  you  Chiefs  that  this  day  ye  may 
smoke  out  of  the  Silver  pipe.  So  now  I  deliver  this  pipe  as  a  token  from 
our  Several  Tribes  in  New  England,  that  we  are  one  and  sincere  in  what 
we  say  &  do.  And  now  our  Elder  Brethren  we  have  told  you  of  our  pro- 
ceedings &  all  we  desire  at  present  is  to  know  whether  you  are  of  the  same 
mind  as  Ever,  whether  your  Love  and  pity  is  the  same.  So  our  dear 
Brethren  these  few  words  we  leave  you  to  consider  of  at  present,  and  then 
we  shall  tell  you  of  little  more  to  consider  of. 

The  first  answer  of  the  Oneida  Indians  was  delivered  the 
next  day.  It  recognized  the  New  England  Indians  of  the 
seven  towns  as  brethren,  and  inquired  as  to  the  number  who 
were  intending  to  remove.  To  this  Johnson  replied  in  a 
second  address  as  follows : 

Our  dear  Bcethren,  what  we  have  further  for  you  to  consider  of  is  this, 
our  Purposes  or  our  Design  if  God  willing,  this  I  know  my  Elder  Brethren, 
that  we  may  consult  together  and  agree  to  do  so  «S:  so.  Vet  if  i'  is  not  the 
mind  of  God  all  our  Councils  &  purposes  will  come  to  nought,  or  all  will  be 
in  vain.  But  if  it  please  God  &  He  open  your  hearts  to  pity  us  &  to  receive 
us  as  a  younger  IJrother  &  help  us  indeed,  we  purpose  and  design  to  come 


2l6  SAA/SOJV  OCCOM 

up  and  settle  together  in  Peace,  where  you  shall  think  fit  and  where  it  will 
be  most  agreeable  for  us.  All  we  desire  is  to  live  in  peace  &  to  have  things 
Convenient.  If  we  cant  have  land  enough  we  cant  have  things  Convenient. 
We  all  have  little  land  in  New  England,  but  it  is  very  poor  the  greatest 
part.  So  there  we  cant  have  things  convenient,  that  is  many  of  us,  and 
Some  are  obliged  to  turn  their  hands  this  way  &  that  way  to  get  a  Liveli- 
hood. The  town  to  which  I  belong  is  good  land,  and  we  have  sufficient  at 
present.  We  could  live  there  this  hundred  years  yet,  if  we  increased.  But 
we  are  willing  at  least  some  of  us  to  come  up  and  settle  down  together  with 
our  Brethren  in  peace.  True  the  great  drinkers  &  Lazy  Persons  are  back- 
ward in  coming  in  these  parts  but  we  are  willing  to  leave  them  there. 

Brethren  we  ought  all  to  adoar  God  for  his  goodness  to  us  from  day  to 
day  and  we  ought  to  bless  him  that  he  is  allowing  us  this  opportunity  to 
assemble  ourselves  together  this  once  more  in  this  house  to  consult  to- 
gether a  little  about  the  affairs  of  this  World. 

Brethren  I  am  very  glad  that  my  Ears  have  heard  those  things  which  I 
have  heard  from  you,  in  your  Consultations  since  we  have  been  in  your 
town,  and  as  perhaps  this  is  the  last  time,  that  I  shall  speak  to  you  my 
Elder  Brother,  be  so  kind  as  to  hearken  to  the  words  of  your  younger 
Brother  who  would  speak  this  once  more  in  the  Name  of  the  seven  towns  in 
New  England.  First,  I  return  you  my  hearty  thanks  my  Elder  Brothers 
that  ye  have  considered  of  me  on  my  Brethren  in  New-England  and  I 
rejoice  that  ye  find  in  your  hearts  Love  still  remaining  there,  &  pity  towards 
your  younger  Brethren  in  New  England.  I  thank  you  that  ye  have  so 
deliberately  considered  of  those  few  words  which  we  desired  you  to  con- 
sider, and  we  thank  you  for  your  kind  answer  which  ye  gave  to  us,  &  to  our 
Brethren  in  New  England.  We  thank  you  that  ye  have  taken  us  to  be  your 
younger  Brethren  and  that  ye  look  upon  us  to  be  of  the  same  Blood  as  your- 
selves, and  we  thank  you  that  ye  have  received  us  to  your  Body,  So  that  now 
we  may  say  we  have  one  head  &  one  heart,  &  may  God  keep  us  united 
together  indeed  untill  we  Both  grow  white  headed,  and  may  we  sit  together 
in  Peace  in  Gods  own  time.  And  now  Brethren  we  thank  you  that  accord- 
ing to  our  desire  ye  have  been  pleased  to  assemble  yourselves  together  this 
once  more,  and  my  Elder  Brother,  1  have  but  a  word  to  tell  you  of  to  which 
I  beg  ye  would  take  under  your  deliberate  consideration.  Brother,  ye  was 
pleased  last  fall  to  give  us  an  Encouragement  of  lo  miles  Square,  for  which 
we  all  was  glad.  But  in  our  Consultations  we  thought  that  that  was  not 
quite  sufficient.  Perhaps  we  should  soon  clear  so  much,  perhaps  directly 
or  right  way,  then  we  should  have  to  look  somewhere  else  for  our  children 
to  live,  but  our  Elder  Brother  ye  know  that  it  is  a  hard  thing  for  Parents  & 
children  to  separate,  and  we  desire  to  live  together  if  it  please  God  our 
Creator,  and  Brethren  if  it  please  you  to  give  us  Sufficient  for  us  and  our 


THE   PLAN  OF  EMIGRATION   TO    ONEIDA  21 7 

Children  after  us,  if  you  please  to  give  us  more  land  it  will  gladen  the  hearts 
of  many  Poor  Indians  in  New  England.  We  are  glad  that  ye  have  so  much 
at  your  disposal.  We  could  tell  you  what  our  Brethren  in  New  England 
desire,  but  thus  much  I  have  to  say  at  present. 

On  the  following  day  towards  evening,  January  twenty-sec- 
ond, the  second  answer  was  delivered.  At  the  risk  of  being 
thought  to  make  unimportant  matters  conspicuous,  we  give 
this  in  full,  for  it  shows  clearly  that  the  New  England  In- 
dians were  adopted  by  the  Six  Nations,  as  they  have  since 
asserted  in  the  case  of  "  The  New  York  Indians  against  the 
United  States:  " 

Well  Brethren,  harken  unto  us,  this  day  we  have  assembled  ourselves 
together  again,  to  consult  together,  a  little  about  the  affairs  of  this  World. — 
But  tomorrow  is  the  Lords  day,  which  he  hath  made,  and  set  apart  for  his 
own  Service.  Brethren,  we  rejoice  in  the  goodness  of  God,  who  hath  pre- 
served us  all  our  Life-time,  and  hath  brought  us  to  see  the  light  of  this  dav 
of  Peace,  and  we  rejoice,  that  God  is  allowing  us  this  opportunity  of 
assembling  ourselves  together  this  once  more,  and  we  are  glad  that  we  are 
suffered  to  see  the  faces  of  each  other  in  Comfort,  and  as  we  are  short- 
sighted Creatures,  we  are  sensable,  that  w^e  stand  in  need  of  Gods  help  : 
We  desire  that  God  would  direct  u«,  and  lead  us  to  such  Conclusions  as 
will  be  most  pleasing  to  Him  concerning  this  affa'r  which  has  been  laid 
before  us  for  our  Consideration,  and  now  our  Brethren,  We  the  Chiefs  and 
Lords  of  this  Place,  also  warriors,  and  all  in  this  Assembly,  are  about  to 
give  you  an  Answer,  concerning  the  Affair,  which  you  laid  before  the  Coun- 
cil yesterday.  Brethren,  we  understood  all  that  you  said  yesterday.  But 
we  are  somewhat  forgetful,  our  Memories  cant  retain  for  a  long  time  what 
we  hear:  and  altho  we  cant  remember  every  word,  yet  very  likely  the  prin- 
ciple, or  the  substance  of  your  Speech  is  rooted  in  our  Understanding,  and 
considering  Parts  that  is  rooted  and  fixed  in  our  Hearts.  We  well  remem- 
ber what  you  said  concerning  the  English,  and  we  arc  sorry  to  hear  the  low 
Circumstances  into  which  ye  are  involved  in  owing  to  the  Ignorance  of 
your  forefathers.  We  are  glad  to  hear  of  your  proceedings  hitherto,  ^^'e 
remember  that  you  said  you  acquainted  Sir  William  Johnson  of  the  State 
and  Circumstances  that  ye  were  in,  also  we  remember  that  you  said,  that 
Sir  William  was  pleased  with  the  design,  and  advised  you  in  the  affair,  and 
gave  you  Encouragement. — Brethren,  Sir  William  also  acquainted  us  of 
your  Desires,  or  Intentions  of  removing  to  this  part  of  the  Country,  and  as 
soon  as  we  was  enformed  of  your  Circumstances,  we  took  the  Message  that 


2l8  SAA/SOA'  OCCOM 

Sir  William  Johnson  sent  to  us  on  your  behalf  under  our  Considerations, 
and  Brethren  we  were  all  glad,  our  Great  men,  Lords,  Warriors,  and  young 
men,  yea  even  Women  and  Children  rejoiced  to  hear  that  ye  were  disposed 
to  come  and  settle  in  these  parts.  Brethren,  perhaps  it  was  the  Lord  that 
steared  your  minds  this  way.  Maybe  it  is  his  will  and  pleasure  that  ye 
should  come  up  here,  and  live  side  of  us,  your  Brethren.  Brethren,  we  that 
are  in  this  Council  profess  to  be  good  or  Religious  Men,  so  ye  may  put  con- 
fidence in  us,  or  believe  what  we  say  unto  you.  Be  of  good  Courage  Breth- 
ren, the  Lords  of  this  Place  would  have  you  to  be  of  firm  minds,  be  not 
discouraged  for  all  the  Inhabitants  of  this  Place  are  very  glad  that  ye  are 
come  to  this  Town,  and  we  all  rejoice  to  hear  from  you  at  this  time,  that 
your  Brethren  in  New-England  are  still  disposed  to  come  up  in  these  parts 
to  live,  and  now  Brethren,  we  receive  you  into  our  Body  as  it  were,  now  we 
may  say  we  have  one  head,  one  heart  and  one  Blood,  now  Brethren  our 
lives  are  mixed  together,  and  let  us  have  one  Ruler,  even  God  our  Maker, 
Who  dwells  in  Heaven  above,  who  is  the  father  of  us  all.  Brethren,  we  are 
sensable  that  the  Devil  is  never  Idle,  but  is  ever  busy,  and  if  the  Evil  spirit 
stirs  up  any  Nation  whatsoever  or  Person  against  you  and  causes  your 
Blood  to  be  spilt  we  shall  take  it  as  if  it  was  done  unto  us,  or  as  if  they 
spilt  the  blood  from  our  own  Bodies,  and  we  shall  be  ever  ready  to  defend 
you  and  help  you  or  be  ready  to  protect  you  according  to  our  Abilities,  and 
now  Brethren,  as  we  expect  that  ye  will  come,  and  live  side  of  us  in  short 
time.  We , would  tell  you  as  Brothers  our  principle,  or  Custom  in  these 
parts.  Brethren,  two  things,  we  six  united  Nations  do  follow,  the  first  and 
Chief  is  Religion,  or  to  follow  the  directions  given  to  us  in  Gods  Word,  the 
second  is  to  concur  with  the  Unchristianized  Nations  so  far  as  will  promote 
Peace,  and  Tranquility  in  our  I^and.  Brethren,  this  we  ought  to  do  that 
Religion  might  grow,  and  flourish  in  these  Parts,  and  Brethren,  we  shall 
expect  that  ye  will  assist  us  in  advising  us  concerning  the  affairs  that  may 
be  brought  under  our  consideration  when  ye  shall  live  side  of  us  your 
Brothers,  and  Brethren,  it  is  hoped  that  we  both  shall  be  disposed  ever  to 
help  one  another  in  cases  of  Necessity,  so  long  as  we  shall  live  together, 
as  for  us  Brethren  we  have  already  resolved  to  Endeavour  to  do  all  things 
as  becometh  Brothers,  and  so  much  as  in  us  lies  with  Justice,  and  Equity 
so  long  as  we  shall  sit  together,  and  now  Brethren,  here  is  your  Elder 
Brothers  the  Tuskaroras,  we  say  your  elder  Brothers,  because  they  came 
here  before  you,  and  because  they  came  from  a  greater  distance,  these  your 
elder  Brothers,  will  live  next  to  you,  or  side  of  you,  and  they  are  an  under- 
standing people,  yea  we  are  ready  to  say  that  they  are  become  wiser  than 
us  Onoidas  in  considering  of  affairs  of  great  importance.  Brethren  you  see 
that  these  Tuskaroras  are  now  white  headed  by  reason  of  Age,  and  with 
these  our  Brothers  we  have  sat  together  in   Peace  even  from  our  Infancy. 


THE   PLAN  OF  EMIGRATION   TO    ONEIDA  219 

Well  Brethren,  we  hope  that  we  shall  live  together  in  peace  untill  we  see 
each  other  white  headed.  Brethren,  your  Ears  must  not  be  open  to  hear 
flying  Stories  and  you  must  not  let  prejudice  arise  in  your  hearts  too  quick, 
this  is  the  way  or  Custom  likewise  of  us  Six  united  Nations,  not  to  regard 
any  evil  minded  Person  or  Persons  who  are  contrary  to  Peace.  Brethren, 
we  look  upon  you  as  upon  a  Sixth  Brother.  We  will  tell  you  of  all  your 
elder-  Brothers,  the  Onoidas,  Kiyougas,  Nanticuks,  Tuskaroras,  Todele- 
honas,  these  five  are  your  Elder  Brothers.  But  as  for  the  Mohawks, 
Onondangas  and  Senecas  they  are  our  fathers,  and  they  are  your  fathers. 
Brethren  in  the  Spring  we  shall  expect  you  here  again,  then  we  will  shew 
you  a  place  to  settle  on.  Brethren,  here  is  your  Silver  pipe  and  it  shall  be 
done  with  according  to  Orders."  thus  much  we  have  to  say  at  present, 
accept  our  words,  tho  it  is  but  little  that  we  have  said.  Brethren,  we  say 
this  once  more,  that  we  are  very  glad  to  see  you  in  our  Town,  and  now 
Brethren,  We  the  Chiefs  and  Lords  of  this  Place,  also  Warriors  and  young 
men  give  our  kind  respects  and  Sincere  love  to  our  Brethren  in  New  Eng- 
land that  live  in  those  Seven  Towns,  that  are  disposed  to  come  this  way. 
We  say  we  give  our  loves  to  the  old  men,  your  Councilers  and  teachers, 
and  to  all  the  young  men,  also  we  give  our  love  to  all  the  Women  old  and 
young,  and  to  all  Children.  Brethren,  very  likely  several  of  our  Chiefs  will 
accompany  you  as  far  as  to  Sir  William  Johnson's  and  there  Brothers  we 
will  confirm  all  our  words,  and  rectify  our  Mistakes,  if  we  have  made  any, 
there  alone  is  the  place  to  have  all  things  done  well,  done  strong  and  done 
sure.     So  Brethren,  this  is  the  End  of  our  Answer. 

The  third  answer  was  delivered  on  the  Monday  following, 
January  twenty-fourth.  It  also  is  important  as  showing  that 
the  Oneidas  purposed  to  grant  their  brethren  a  considerable 
tract  of  land  : 

Brethren,  since  we  have  received  you  as  Brothers,  we  shall  not  confine 
you  or  pen  you  up  to  Ten  Miles  square  :  We  have  much  Land  at  our  dis- 
posal, and  you  need  not  fear  that  you  shall  not  have  Land  sufficient  for  you, 
and  for  your  Children  after  you.  We  would  have  you  to  fix  your  Minds 
here,  and  here  alone,  and  when  ye  come  to  live  up  here,  we  desire  that  ye 
would  not  hearken  to  the  invitations  of  other  Nations,  who  may  invite  you 
to  go  farther  back.  iJrethren,  we  say  let  your  minds  be  at  ease,  be  not 
troubled  but  come,  and  settle  down  in  Peace,  and  live  in  peace  for  ever. 
I^rothers,  we  understand  that  ye  purpose  to  go  homewird  tomorrow;  but 
I'rothers,  dont  take  it  hard,  we  think  that  ye  must  continue  with  us  two 
days  longer,  the  reason  is  this.  Some  of  the  Chiefs,  or  heads  of  the  Six 
Nations,  are  coming  up  from  Sir  Williams  with  a  Speech  from  his  Honor, 


220  SAMSOjV  OCCOM 

and  we  think  that  it  will  not  be  handsome  or  that  it  would  not  be  so  well 
for  us  to  meet  them  in  the  woods.  We  think  that  it  would  be  best  for  us  to 
see  them  here  in  this  Council  house,  also  we  think  that  it  would  be  very 
proper  for  you  to  be  here  when  Sir  Williams  speech  will  be  delivered  as  it 
is  concerning  you,  and  your  New  England  Brethren,  this  is  all  that  we 
have  to  say  at  present. 

Thus  the  council  broke  up,  and  Joseph  Johnson  and  his 
companion  set  out  to  return  home,  having-  been  at  Kanawaro- 
hare  eight  days.^  They  were  attended  to  Johnson  Hall  by 
twelve  of  the  Oneida  chiefs  who  in  Sir  William  Johnson's 
presence  ratified  their  pledge  of  eternal  friendship  for  the  New 
England  Indians. 

So  far  the  affair  had  progressed  favorably.  Johnson  returned 
to  his  school  at  Farmington,  where  he  had  hired  a  substitute 
in  his  absence.  He  was  then  busy  preparing  himself  for  ap- 
proval as  a  minister  under  the  encouragement  of  Doctor  Whee- 
lock.  As  the  summer  drew  near  it  was  arranged  that  Samson 
Occom  and  David  Fowler,  in  behalf  of  the  seven  towns,  should 
go  to  Oneida  and  view  the  land,  and  that  Joseph  Johnson 
should  join  them  there  after  he  had  received  approbation. 
With  this  purpose  he  attended  the  Commencement  at  Dart- 
mouth College.  The  day  after  it,  the  ministers  who  happened 
to  be  present  proceeded  to  his  examination.  The  following  is 
their  testimonial :  ^ 

These  may  certify  all  whom  it  may  concern  that  Joseph  Johnson,  an 
Indian  of  the  Mohegan  Tribe  in  Connecticut  has  offered  himself  before  us, 
who  were  providentially  together,  for  Examination  as  a  Candidate  to  preach 
the  Gospel,  with  a  principal  View  to  the  IJenefit  of  his  own  Nation  —  We 
have  examined  him  as  to  his  Knowledge  and  Understanding  in  the  Doc- 
trines of  the  Gospel  and  Experimental  Religion  and  other  Accomplishments 
Needful  for  Usefulness  among  his  own  Nation  and  also  the  Churches  in  a 
christian  Land  where  in  Providence  he  may  be  called  and  have  opportunity 

^Wheelock  Papers,  Lett.  Johnson  to  Wheelock,  May  2,  1774.     Johnson's  passport 
is  dated  at  Johnson  Hall,  Feb.  5,  1774. —  Conn.  Hist.  Soc  ,  Indian  Papers. 
°  Wheelock  Papers,  Dart.  Coll. 


THE   PLAN  OF  EMIGRATION   TO    ONEIDA  221 

to  preach  —  We  are  well  satisfied  as  to  his  Qualifications    and    heartily 

recommend  him  for  s'^  Purpose. 

Dartmouth  College 

in  New  Hampshire  y'"  25  of  Aug  1774 

Lemuel  Hedge,  Pastor  of  Warwick 
Jeremy  Belknap,  Dover 
JosiAH  Dana,  Hutchinson 
Isaiah  Potter,  Lebanon 
William  Conant,  Lime 
Sylvanus  Ripley,  Missionary 

To  this  document  there  was  also  appended  a  recommenda- 
tion by  Eleazar  Wheelock,  president  of  Dartmouth  College, 
Benjamin  Pomeroy,  pastor  at  Hebron,  and  Eden  Burroughs, 
pastor  at  Hanover.  In  the  afternoon  the  young  Indian 
preached  to  a  Commencement  assembly.  Of  this  occasion  he 
says,  "  I  preached  yesterday  in  the  afternoon  at  the  College 
Hall  and  after  the  exercise  was  over  they  made  general  con- 
tribution and  I  had  thirty  Dollars  given  to  me  by  the  Gentle- 
men who  came  here  commencement.  I  am  going  to  set  off  for 
the  Mohawk  Country  this  Day  and  I  shall  come  back  as  soon 
as  ever  I  can."  Doctor  Wheelock  says  that  this  exercise  was 
performed  "  to  universal  satisfaction,"  and  testifies  to  the 
ability  which  Johnson  displayed  in  this  trying  ordeal.  He  had 
only  received  approbation,  with  a  view  of  being  ordained  later, 
which  his  early  death  prevented. 

.Samson  Occom  and  David  Fowler  set  out  for  Oneida  on  the 
eighth  of  July  and  safely  arrived  at  Kanawarohare  at  dusk  on 
the  twenty-fourth.  Here  again  Occom  and  Kirkland  met.  The 
former  in  his  diary  says,  "we  embraced  each  other  with  joy." 
The  latter  also  in  his  journal  records  the  meeting.  "  Mr.  Oc- 
com with  his  brother-in-law,  D'^  Fowler  arrived  here,  who  are 
come  upon  a  friendly  visit  to  the  Indians.'  It  was  more  than 
two  months  before  the  formal  Treaty  between  the  Oneidas 
and  the  New  England  Indians  was  held.  Meanwhile  they 
viewed  the  lands  and  settled  its  boundaries,  and  by  friendly 
intercourse  sought  to  strengthen  their  relations  with  their  new- 


222  SAMSON  OCCOM 

ly-adopted  brethren.  In  due  time  Joseph  Johnson  arrived.  On 
the  4th  of  October  the  Oneidas  transferred  to  them  by  a  deed 
of  gift,  so  called,  a  considerable  tract  of  land  lying  west  of  the 
"  Property  Line." 

By  Guy  Johnson  Esq^  Superintendent  of  Indian  Affairs  for  the  Northern 
Department  of  North  America  &c  &c. — 

\Yhereas,  The  Indians  of  Mohegan  Naraganset  Montock,  Pequods  of 
Groton  and  of  Stonington,  Nahantick,  Farmington,  Inhabiting  within  the 
New  England  Governments,  Did  Last  Year  represent  that  they  Were  Very 
much  Streightened  and  Reduced  to  Such  small  Pittance  of  Land  that  they 
could  no  longer  remain  there  and  Did  through  the  Channell  of  Sir,  William 
Johnson  Bar^  late  Superintendent  Apply  to  the  Six  Nations  for  some  lands 
to  Live  on  Which  was  at  Length  agreed  to  in  my  Presence  at  the  last 
Treaty  and  a  Tract  alloted  them  by  the  Oneidas,  And  Whereas  Some  of 
them  have  since  in  Company  with  the  Oneida  Chiefs  view'd  the  said  lands 
and  Determined  on  its  Boundary  as  followes  desireing  a  Certificate  of  the 
Same  and  that  it  might  be  Entered  on  the  Records  of  Indian  Affairs,  Viz. 
Beginning  at  the  West  End  of  the  Scaniadaris,  or  the  long  Lake  which  is  at 
the  Head  of  One  of  the  Branches  of  Orisca  Creek  and  from  thence  about 
twelve  Miles  Northerly  or  so  far  that  an  Easterly  Course  from  a  Certain 
point  on  the  first  Mentioned  Course  Shall  Intersect  th^  Road  or  path  lead- 
ing from  Old  Oneida  to  the  German  Fflats  Where  the  said  Path  Crosses 
Scanindowa  Creek  Running  into  the  Oneida  Lake.  Then  the  Same  Course 
Continued  to  the  Line  Settled  as  the  Limits  between  the  Province  of  New 
York  and  the  Indians  at  the  Treaty  of  Fort  Stanwix  in  176S,  thence  South- 
erly along  the  said  Line  about  thirteen  Miles  or  so  far  as  that  a  Westerly 
Line  from  thence  keeping  one  Mile  South  of  the  Most  Southerly  Bend  of 
Orisca  Creek  Shall  Reach  the  Place  of  Beginning  so  as  to  Comprehend  the 
Lake  first  Mentioned — I  Do  therefore  in  Compliance  With  the  Joint  Request 
of  the  said  Oneidas  and  New  England  Indians  Declare  that  the  Said  Oneidas 
Do  Grant  to  the  said  New  England  Indians  and  there  Posterity  for  Ever 
Without  Power  of  Alienation  to  any  Subject  the  Afore  Described  Tract 
with  its  Appu-rtenances  in  the  Amplest  Manner.  Also  full  Liberty  of 
Hunting  all  sorts  of  Game  throughout  the  Whole  Country  of  the  Oneidas, 
Beaver  Hunting  only  Excepted.  With  this  Particular  Clause  or  Reserva- 
tion that  the  same  shall  not  be  Possessed  by  any  Persons  Deemed  of  the 
said  Tribes  Who  are  Decended  from  or  have  Intermixed  with  Negroes 
and  Mulattoes. 

Given  under  my  Hand  and  Seal  at  Arms  at  Guy  Park,  October  the  4"* 

1774- 
[Seal]  G.  Johnson 


THE  PLAN  OF  EMIGRATION  TO   ONEIDA  223 

We  the  Chiefs  Do  in  Testimony  of  the  foregoing  Affix  the  Character  of 
our  Tribes  unto  the  Day  and  Year  above  Mentioned — 

The  mark  of  \     *,  The  mark    (      Canade- 

\f    Ughmyonge  -U^  gowns 

Themark  of  ^>V.Conxh-         Wolf  J\^  of  * 


a  ihe  n 

^NyConxh-         \V 
J      I    queifoh 


Turtle  iL  Bear 

Recv*  4"'  Feb''>  A  D.  17S5  and  here  Recorded 

Teste 
George  Wyllys,  Secret. 

The  great  practical  difficulty  of  securing  sufficient  funds  to 
carry  forward  the  emigration  had  yet  to  be  met.  Joseph 
Johnson  had  already  contracted  personal  debts  in  the  cause. 
His  first  thought  apparently  had  been  to  issue  an  address, 
"To  all  generous,  free-hearted  and  Publick  spirited  Gentle- 
men," asking  for  aid,  as  a  draft  of  such  a  document  is  extant.® 
He  had  petitioned  the  Connecticut  General  Assembly  for 
assistance,  and  had  received  therefrom  £(y  as  a  contribution." 
Having  further  assistance  in  view,  he  visited  New  York,  where 
a  friend  was  raised  up  in  Rev.  Dr.  John  Rodgers,  the  successor 
of  Rev.  David  Bostwick,  an  early  friend  of  the  Oneida  mis- 
sion. Here  Johnson  preached  several  times,  and  collections 
were  taken  which  relieved  him  of  debt  and  provided  a  balance 
for  his  future  maintenance.  Thus  encouraged,  he  w^ent  among 
the  Indians  of  the  seven  towns  exhibiting  the  deed  of  the 
Oneida  lands,  and  preaching  the  emigration  as  one  might  a 
crusade.  He  wrote  Dr.  Rodgers  thus  of  his  success  :  "  They 
are  engaged  to  go  on  in  prosecution  of  the  design  which  I 
made  known  to  you  and  we  purpose  to  set  off  from  hence 
[Mohegan]  or  from  these  parts  the  13th  of  March  next.  I 
believe  that  there  will  be  upwards  of  60  young  men  from  the 
several  tribes  who  wdll  go  as  first  settlers  of  land  granted  to 
us  by  the  Oneidas.     However  there  is  58   able  working  men 

^  Conn.  Hist.  Soc,  Indian  Papers. 

">  Conn.  Arch.,  Indians,  II,  30S  ;  Conn.  Col.  Rec.^  XIV,  314. 


224  SAMSON  OCCOM 

on  whose  word  I  believe  we  can  rely.  From  Mohegan  lo. 
From  Narragansett  20.  From  Montauk  13.  From  Nehantic 
5.  From  Farmington  10=^:58,  &  there  are  other  tribes  so 
deeply  in  debt  that  they  cannot  go  this  season,  but  fully 
intend  to  go  soon  as  possible,  i.  e.  Groton  &  Stonington.  I 
was  there  last  Thursday  &:  conversed  with  them.  Mr.  Occom 
will  preach  there  next  Sunday,  &  he  will  propose  conditions  to 
them  &  their  creditors,  so  they  may  go.  .  .  .  It  is  thought  best  at 
first  that  those  who  can  endure  hardships  go  &  prepare  the 
way  &  prepare  a  shelter  for  themselves  to  live  in  &  to  raise 
somewhat  to  eat  &  then  move  with  their  families,  &  then  have 
the  aged  men  &  women  go  leaning  upon  their  sons  as  it 
were."^ 

At  the  same  time  he  wrote  Doctor  Wheelock  to  the  same 
effect.  The  encouragement  he  had  received  from  his  patron 
may  be  inferred  from  the  following  paragraph  in  the  Narrative 
of  that  year  :  "And  this  Prospect  is  yet  further,  I  think,  much 
increased,  by  the  proposed  Removal  of  the  principal  Indians 
of  the  Tribe  at  Montauck,  with  all  the  christianized  and  civi- 
lized Indians  of  the  several  Towns  in  New-England,  to  settle 
in  a  Body  in  the  Heart  of  the  Country  of  the  Six  Nations, 
which  is  expected  to  be  effected  next  Summer.  This  is  in 
Consequence  of  an  Application,  made  under  the  Countenance, 
Assistance  and  Direction  of  Sir  William  Johnson,  by  Mr. 
Occom,  Joseph  Johnson,  Jacob  Fowler  and  others  delegated 
by  the  several  Tribes  for  that  Purpose.  In  Consequence  of 
which,  they  have  obtained  and  well  secured  a  Tract  of  choice 
Land,  Fifteen  or  Twenty  Miles  square,  where  they  design  to 
settle  in  a  Body,  as  a  civilized  and  christian  People,  and  cul- 
tivate those  Lands  for  their  Subsistence  ;  and  also  by  them, 
as  soon  and  as  far  as  they  shall  be  able,  to  support  all  Divine 
Ordinances  and  Schools  among  them  ;  and  invite  their  Savage 
Brethren  to   an   imitation   of  them,   and  a  Participation  of  all 

Wheelock  Papers^  Lett.  Feb.  15,  1773. 


THE   PLAN  OF  EMIGRATIOX   TO    ONEIDA  225 

these  Benefits  and  Privileges  with  them.  They  purpose  to 
have,  as  far  as  may  be,  of  their  own  Sons  for  Ministers  and 
School-Masters.  .  .  .  And  from  this  Place,  their  Ministers  may 
with  much  less  Expence,  make  Excursions  among  the  Tribes 
round  about  them,  and  their  School  will  be  near  and  con- 
venient to  receive  the  Children  of  such  as  shall  desire  a  Chris- 
tian Education  for  them."^  This  extract  truly  represents  the 
general  sentiment  of  approval  with  which  the  emigration  was 
regarded  by  all  friends  of  the  Indians. 

When  the  spring  opened — and  it  may  have  been  on  the  thir- 
teenth of  March,  as  they  had  planned — the  first  company  of 
emigrants  set  out  for  their  new  home.  How  many  there  were, 
and  what  their  fortunes  were  on  the  way,  we  cannot  tell. 
Joseph  Johnson,  David  Fowler  and  Elijah  Wampy  were 
among  them,  as  were  John  Skeesuck,  James  Shattocks  and 
Samuel  Tallman,  not  so  well  known  to  us.  The  last  was 
one  of  Wheelock's  Delaware  Indian  pupils,  who  had  since 
lived  among  the  New  England  tribes.  Probably  they  carried 
out  their  purpose  of  sending  the  younger  men  on  in  advance. 
They  arrived  safely  in  the  Oneida  country,  and  immediately 
set  about  building  log  huts  in  that  wide  expanse  of  wilderness, 
making  gardens  and  planting  corn-fields.  All  might  have  gone 
as  they  had  planned  had  it  not  been  for  the  war-cloud  which 
burst  in  all  its  fury  that  spring  over  the  New  England  colonies. 
These  Indians  heard  the  sound  of  the  patriot's  gun,  though  they 
were  far  away. 

One  of  the  most  serious  concerns  which  faced  the  colonies 
in  the  early  days  of  the  Revolution  was  as  to  the  attitude 
of  the  Six  Nations.  Many  have  known  that  the  Oneidas 
remained  faithful  to  the  patriots,  notwithstanding  the  strenu- 
ous efforts  which  were  made  to  alienate  them  ;  but  no  one  has 
ever  given  credit  to  the  Christian  Indians  of  New  England  for 
this,   to   whom   it  belongs   no  less  than   to   Samuel  Kirkland. 

^  Wheelock's  Narrative^  1775,  pp.  15,  16. 
16 


2  26  SAMSO.V  OCCOM 

They  had  reached  Oneida  at  the  opportune  time,  and  their 
voices  were  at  once  raised  in  behalf  of  their  white  friends. 
It  was  they  who  inspired  the  "Declaration  of  Neutrality," 
addressed  to  the  four  New  England  Provinces  by  the  Oneidas 
and  dated  June  19,  1775.  We  think,  indeed,  that  one  of 
their  number  wrote  it.  They  certainly  carried  it  eastward. 
It  begins  thus  :  "As  my  younger  Brothers  of  the  New  England 
Indians  who  have  settled  in  our  Vicinity  are  now  going  down 
to  visit  their  Friends,  &  to  move  up  Parts  of  their  Families 
that  were  left  behind,  with  this  belt  by  them  I  open  the  Rode 
wide,  clearing  it  of  all  Obstacles  that  they  may  visit  their 
Friends  &  return  to  their  settlement  here  in  Peace."  ^'^  At 
that  date  Joseph  Johnson  was  on  his  way  to  New  York,  where 
he  presented  a  petition  to  the  Provincial  Congress  on  the  twen- 
ty-first and  received  £\o  New  York  currency.^^  In  this  he 
states  that  some  had  already  returned  to  New  England  and 
three  more  were  to  follow  him  to  New  York  for  whom  he 
requested  a  passport.  These  were  John  Skeesuck,  James 
Shattocks  and  Samuel  Tallman,  and  some  days  afterwards 
they  joined  him.  Possibly  they  were  the  bearers  of  the 
"Declaration  of  Neutrality,"  which  contained  welcome  news. 
Some,  however,  did  not  return,  but  held  their  post  in  Oneida. 
Foremost  among  these  was  David  Fowler,  the  early  teacher  at 
Kanawarohare.  Johnson  also  received  from  the  Provincial 
Congress  a  message  to  the  Oneidas.  He  went  on  to  Mohegan 
and  on  the  seventeenth  of  July  set  out  to  carry  it.  Again  he 
was  in  New  York  August  twenty-sixth  and  on  the  eleventh  of 
September  received  a  pass  from  the  Committee  of  Safety — 
"having given  proof  of  his  attachment  to  the  cause  of  American 
Liberty."  ^^  After  this  he  returned  to  Oneida.  He  had  not  lost 
sight  of  his  mission  as  a  preacher  among  the  Six  Nations,  and 

^^  Mass.  Archives,  Vol,  144,  pp.  311,  312.     Conn.  Col.  Rec.,-KW,  roo. 
11  A^.  Y.  Archives,  Rev.  I,  102. 
'-  Wheelock  Papers. 


THE  PLAN  OF  EMIGRATION   TO    ONEIDA  227 

it  was  the  necessity  of  raising  funds  for  this  work  which  brought 
him  again  to  New  England  late  in  the  autumn.  In  the  January 
following  he  visited  Col.  John  Phillips  at  Exeter,  N.  H.,  who 
gave  him  substantial  encouragement.  He  was  also  at  Ports- 
mouth. The  letter  he  bore  from  Rev.  David  McClure  to  Doctor 
Wheelock  when  he  departed  says  :  "  His  coming  this  way  was 
as  welcome  as  it  was  unexpected.  I  receive  him  as  an  old 
acquaintance  but  very  happily  made  more  valuable  by  distin- 
guished grace — the  good  effects  of  which  are  very  manifest  in 
him.  ...  It  must  afford  you  joy  that  this  your  pupil, 
whom  once  if  I  mistake  not  you  was  ready  to  weep  over  as  lost 
is  now  walking  in  the  truth."  ^^  On  the  sixteenth  of  the  month 
he  appeared  before  the  New  Hampshire  General  Assembly, 
and  received  from  them  a  testimonial  signed  by  M.  Weare, 
the  president,  commending  him  "not  only  as  a  Friend  to  the 
Cause  of  American  Liberty,  but  as  a  modest,  discreet,  sensible 
Man,  whose  Influence  among  the  Indian  Nations  has  been 
^  may  be  very  serviceable  to  the  Colonies,"  to  which  also 
an  address  to  the  Six  Nations  was  appended. ^^  He  was 
instructed  "to  use  his  utmost  endeavors  to  brighten  the  chain 
of  friendship  which  has  for  many  years  past  subsisted  between 
us  and  them."  Thence  he  went  to  Hanover. ^^  Doctor  Whee- 
lock wrote  a  letter,  dated  January  twenty-ninth,  recommending 
him  to  General  Washington  at  Cambridge.  This  he  presented 
on  the  twentieth  of  February,  going  thither  by  the  way  of  Mohe- 
gan.  General  Washington  sent  by  him  the  following  message  to 
the  Six  Nations,  the  original  of  which  is  among  the  Wheelock 
Papers : 

Sir.   • 

I  am  very  much  pleased  to  find  by  the  strong  recommendations  you  pro- 
duce, that  we  have  among  our  Brothers  of  the  Six  Nations  a  person  who 

w  Wheelock  Papers,  Lett.  Portsmouth,  Jan.  8,  1776. 
"The  original  is  among  the  Wheelock  Papers. 

"  He  preached  there  the  funeral  sermon  of  Levi  Washburn,  Jan.  23rd. — Chase's 
Hist,  of  Dart.  Coll.,  p.  352. 


228  SAMSON  OCCOM 

can  explain  to  them  the  sense  of  their  Brothers  on  the  dispute  between  us 
and  the  Ministers  of  Great  Britain.  You  have  seen  a  part  of  our  Strength, 
and  can  inform  our  Brothers  that  we  can  withstand  all  the  force  which 
those  who  want  to  rob  us  of  our  Lands  and  our  Homes  can  send  against  us. 

You  can  tell  our  friends  that  they  may  always  look  upon  me,  whom  the 
Whole  United  Colonies  have  chosen  to  be  their  Chief  Warrior,  as  their 
brother;  whilst  they  continue  in  Friendship  with  us,  they  may  depend  upon 
mine  and  the  protection  of  those  under  my  command. 

Tell  them  that  we  dont  want  them  to  take  up  the  hatchet  for  us  except 
they  chuse  it ;  we  only  desire  that  they  will  not  fight  against  us,  we  want 
that  the  chain  of  friendship  should  always  remain  bright  between  our 
friends  of  the  Nations  and  us.  Their  attention  to  you  will  be  a  proof  to  us 
that  they  wish  the  same.  We  recommend  you  to  them,  and  hope  by  your 
spreading  the  truths  of  the  Holy  Gospel  amongst  them,  it  will  contribute  to 
keep  the  chain  so  bright,  that  the  malicious  insinuations  or  practices  of  our 
Enemies  will  never  be  able  to  break  this  Union,  so  much  for  the  benefit  of 
our  Brothers  of  the  Six  Nations  and  of  us — And  to  prove  to  them  that  this 
is  my  desire  and  of  the  Warriors  under  me,  I  hereto  Subscribe  my  name  at 
Cambridge  this  20^'^  day  of  February  1776 

Go.  Washington. 

Mr.  Joseph  Johnson. 

It  was  doubtless  also  at  this  time  that  he  received  the  ad- 
dress of  Samson  Occom  to  his  Indian  brethren  urging  them  to 
maintain  neutrality.     It  is  as  follows  : 

Beloved  Brethren 

I  Rejoice  to  hear,  that  you  keep  to  your  Promise,  that  you  will  not  med- 
dle with  the  Family  Contentions  of  the  English,  but  will  be  at  peace  and 
quietness.  Peace  never  does  any  hurt.  Peace  is  from  the  God  of  Peace 
and  Love,  and  therefore  be  at  Peace  among  yourselves,  and  with  all  men, 
and  the  God  of  Peace  Dwell  with  you.  Jesus  Christ  is  the  Prince  of  Peace, 
he  is  the  Peace  Maker,  if  all  Mankind  in  the  World  Believed  in  Jesus 
Christ  with  all  their  Hearts,  there  wou'd  be  no  more  Wars,  they  would  live 
as  one  Family  in  Peace.  Jesus  Christ  said  to  his  Disciples  just  before  he 
left  them.  Peace  I  leave  with  you,  my  Peace  I  give  unto  you,  not  as  the 
World  giveth  give  I  unto  you,  and  again,  a  New  Command  I  give  unto  you 
that  ye  Love  one  another.  Now  Consider,  my  Beloved  Brethren  who  is  the 
Author  of  these  Bloody  wars.  Will  God  Set  his  People  to  kill  one  another.? 
You  will  certainly  say  No.  Well,  who  then  makes  all  this  Mischief.? 
Methinks  I  hear  you  all  say,  the  Devil,  the  Devil,— so  he  is,  he  makes  all 
the  Contentions  as  he  sows  the  Seeds  of  Discord  among  the  Children  of 


THE   PLAN  OF  EMIGRATION  TO   ONEIDA  2 29 

men  and  makes  all  the  Mischief  in  the  World. — Yet  it  is  right  for  the 
Peaceable  to  Defend  themselves  when  wicked  People  fall  upon  them  with- 
out Reason  or  Cause,  then  they  can  look  up  to  Heaven  to  their  God  and 
he  will  help  them. 

I  will  now  give  you  a  little  insight  into  the  Nature  of  the  English  Quar- 
rils  over  the  great  Waters.  They  got  to  be  rich,  I  mean  the  Nobles  and 
the  great,  and  they  are  very  Proud  and  they  keep  the  rest  of  their  Brethren 
under  their  Feet,  they  make  Slaves  of  them.  The  great  ones  have  got  all 
the  Land  and  the  rest  are  poor  Tenants — and  the  People  in  this  Country 
live  more  upon  a  leavel  and  they  live  happy,  and  the  former  Kings  of  Eng- 
land use  to  let  the  People  in  this  Country  have  their  Freedom  and  Liberty  ; 
but  the  present  King  of  England  wants  to  make  them  Slaves  to  himself, 
and  the  People  in  this  Country  don't  want  to  be  Slaves, — and  so  they  are 
come  over  to  kill  them,  and  the  People  here  are  oblig'd  to  Defend  them- 
selves, they  dont  go  over  the  great  Lake  to  kill  them.  And  now  I  think 
you  must  see  who  is  the  oppresser  and  who  are  the  oppressed  and  now  I 
think,  if  you  must  join  on  one  way  or  other  you  cant  join  the  oppresser, 
but  will  help  the  oppressed.  But  let  me  conclude  with  one  word  of  Advice* 
use  all  your  Influence  to  your  Brethren,  so  far  as  you  have  any  Connections 
to  keep  them  in  Peace  and  quietness,  and  not  to  intermeddle  in  these 
Quarrils  among  the  White  People.  The  Lord  Jesus  Christ  says.  Blessed 
are  the  Peacemakers,  for  they  shall  be  called  the  Children  of  God. 
This  with  great  Love  is  from 

Your  True  Brother 

Samson  OccomI^ 

Joseph  Johnson,  being  thus  commissioned  by  the  highest 
authorities  to  carry  messages  of  peace  to  the  Indians,  and  as 
he  says  in  a  letter  being  "  heartily  engaged  to  go  and  preach 
the  glad  tidings  of  the  gospel  of  Jesus  Christ  to  my  western 
Brethren,"  turned  his  footsteps  again  westward.  Here  he 
disappears  from  view  as  many  another  Indian  has  on  the  trail. 
He  was  detained  at  Mohegati  by  the  illness  of  his  wife,  and  it 
must  have  been  early  in  the  summer  ere  he  set  out.  David 
Fowler,  who  was  still  in  the  wilderness,  wrote  encouraging 
words  to  Samson  Occom  on  the  14th  of  August,  of  the  neutral- 
ity of  the  Indians  and  the  health  of  their  company.^"     We  con- 

1"  Co7in.  Hist.  Soc,  Indian  Papers. 
1^  Ibid. 


230  SAMSON  OCCOM 

jecture  that  Johnson  was  then  among  them  or  in  that  region  on 
his  mission.  On  some  unknown  day  within  a  few  months,  this 
remarkable  young  missionary,  then  only  twenty-four  years  old, 
in  whom  there  was  ability  most  honorable  and  courage  illustri- 
ous, was  laid  to  rest  in  an  unmarked  grave.  The  only  obituary 
we  have  met  with  is  in  the  postscript  of  a  letter  from  Rev. 
David  McClure  to  Doctor  Wheelock,  in  which  he  says,  "  The 
Churches  this  way  who  had  a  taste  of  Mr.  Johnson's  ministerial 
Gifts  feel  for  the  public  in  the  loss  of  that  zealous,  pious  and 
very  promising  Indian  Preacher."^^  So  ended  the  life  of  that 
pupil  in  the  Indian  Charity  School,  who  was  thought  at  one 
time  to  prove  the  futility  of  attempts  to  educate  native  mis- 
sionaries. 

^^  Wheelock  Papers^  Lett.  North  Hampton,  May  8,  1777. 


CHAPTER    XIII 

INDIAN    FRIENDS    AT    STOCKBRIDGE 
1734—1783 

The  part  which  the  Christian  Indians  of  New  England  took 
in  the  American  Revolution  should  win  them  lasting  honor 
among  patriots.  In  that  conflict  their  settlements  were 
wasted,  their  habits  demoralized  and  the  flower  of  their  youth 
perished.  The  future  of  those  who  had  emigrated  to  Oneida 
would  certainly  have  been  different  had  it  not  been  for  the 
devastation  of  that  war.  Most  of  the  younger  men  returned 
at  once  and  enlisted  as  soldiers.  The  names  of  many  such  are 
known.  William  Williams  testified  in  1783  that  eighteen  of 
the  Mohegans  had  died  in  the  service,  and,  remembering  that 
the  tribe  was  not  large,  this  was  a  great  loss.  Only  a  few 
remained  on  their  Oneida  lands  with  their  families.  Among 
these  were  David  Fowler,  Elijah  Wampy,  Andrew  Corcomb, 
John  Adams,  James  Cusk  and  Samuel  Adams.  Their  houses 
were  of  no  very  pretentious  sort ;  but  they  were  the  only  ones 
for  miles  around.  In  one  of  them  doubtless  Heinrich  Staring 
was  confined  by  his  Indian  captors  during  the  Revolution,  as 
related  by  Pomroy  Jones. ^  Hardships  were  certainly  their  lot, 
and  dangers  from  the  enemy  surrounded  them.  At  last  there 
came  a  time  when  their  position  was  untenable.  The  enemy 
under  the  command  of  General  St.  Leger  approached  to 
besiege  Fort  Schuyler.  Probably  some  of  his  marauding  bands 
of  savages  who  knew  the  location  of  these  friendly  Indians 
threatened  them,  but  the  circumstances  are  unknown   to  us  in 

1  Jones'  Annals  of  Oneida  County,  pp.  254-259. 


232  SAA/SOjV  occom 

detail.  Occom  says  they  were  driven  off  by  the  enemy  and 
were  obliged  to  leave  all  their  effects  in  their  haste.  The 
Oneidas  and  Tuscaroras  went  to  Albany  and  were  there  sup- 
ported by  the  government;  but  the  Brothertown  Indians  were 
homeless.  All  they  had  possessed  in  New  England  had  been 
sold  when  they  emigrated.  Whither  should  they  go  ?  East- 
ward they  took  their  course.  So  in  time  they  arrived  at  Stock- 
bridge.  It  was  natural  for  them  to  feel  that  they  were  there 
among  friends,  for  the  Housatonic  tribe  was  at  this  time  the 
most  advanced  in  civilization  of  any  in  western  Massachusetts. 
Land  was  plenty  where  they  might  build  huts  and  cultivate 
their  Indian  corn.  Here,  then,  these  refugees  settled  down  in 
West  Stockbridge  and  Richmond,  intending  to  return  to 
Oneida  as  soon  as  it  was  safe.  Some  of  them,  having  nothing 
else  at  hand  to  do,  became  soldiers  of  the  Revolution.  Their 
friends  in  the  old  settlements,  among  whom  Samson  Occom 
still  ministered,  assisted  them  as  they  could.  Jacob  Fowler 
was  not  with  them.  He  was  no  longer  needed  as  Indian  tutor 
at  Dartmouth  College,  there  being  no  Indians  to  teach,  and  in 
1776  he  had  entered  the  government  service  as  a  messenger 
to  the  Western  tribes.  In  September  of  that  year  he  traveled 
thither  with  others  to  a  distance  of  six  hundred  miles  and 
returned  in  the  dead  of  winter.  On  occasions  afterwards  he 
carried  more  than  one  important  despatch  to  and  from  the 
"war-office"  of  Governor  Jonathan  Trumbull  at  Lebanon. 
David  Fowler,  however,  was  there — the  mainstay  of  the  refu- 
gees— industrious,  wise  and  faithful  as  in  his  younger  days ; 
and  in  his  care  we  leave  them  for  a  little  to  give  some  account 
of  these  Indian  friends  at  Stockbridge  with  whom  to  this  day 
they  have  been  so  intimately  associated. 

The  beginning  of  missionary  labors  among  the  Housatonic 
Indians  was  due  to  the  interest  which  the  ''prudent,  industri- 
ous and  temperate  "  character  of  their  chief,  Konkapot,  had 
kindled  in    the    minds   of    Revs.    Stephen   Williams   of    Long- 


INDIAN  FRIENDS  AT  STOC  KB  RIDGE  233 

meadow  and  Samuel  Hopkins  of  West  Springfield.-  Through 
them  this  fact  was  communicated  to  the  commissioners  of  the 
"  Society  for  Propagating  the  Gospel  "  at  Boston,  who  wished 
them  to  visit  Housatonic.  Before  they  could  comply  it 
chanced  that  Konkapot  and  the  second  chief,  Umpachenee, 
came  to  Springfield,  May  22,  1734,  to  receive  a  captain's  and 
lieutenant's  commission,  respectively,  for  loyal  services  to  the 
Massachusetts  Colony.  A  conference  with  them  was  held  to 
ascertain  whether  they  would  receive  a  missionary.  The 
result  was  so  encouraging  that  Mr.  Williams,  with  Rev.  Nehe- 
miah  Bull  of  Westfield,  visited  them  in  July,  when  the  tribe 
decided  to  welcome  religious  instruction.  Mr.  Williams  went 
to  Boston  and  reported  to  the  commissioners,  whereupon  they 
voted,  August  16,  1734,  to  empower  him  and  Mr.  Bull  to 
engage  a  suitable  man  for  the  work.  John  Sergeant,  then  a 
tutor  at  Yale  College,  was  secured  and  he  spent  two  months 
with  them  that  autumn.  There  were  then,  as  reported  to  the 
commissioners,  only  about  six  families  at  Skatehook  (Sheffield) 
and  the  same  number  ten  miles  north  at  Wnahktukook  (Stock- 
bridge).  It  should  not  be  inferred,  however,  that  this  included 
all  of  the  tribe.  More  were  scattered  about  in  the  neighbor- 
hood, and  eventually  their  numbers  were  augmented  by 
Brainerd's  Indians  and  some  from  the  southward  at  Kent  and 
Sharon.  Between  these  two  Housatonic  settlements,  at  Great 
Barrington,  on  the  twenty-first  of  October  they  began  to  build 
a  log  house,  in  which  Sergeant  set  up  a  school  on  the  fifth  of 
November.  Rude  huts  round  about  sufficed  for  the  Indians. 
Timothy  Woodbridge  of  Springfield  was  then  engaged  as 
schoolmaster.  Here  the  school  was  kept  for  two  winters,  the 
same  being  carried  on  in  their  Indian  settlements  during  the 
summer.     The  work  made  rapid  progress.     On  the  ist  of  July, 

-  On  the  history  of  this  tribe  see:  Historical  Memoirs^  Relating  to  the  Housantun- 
nuk /jtdians,  Sa.muel  Hopkins,  Boston,  1753;  Stockbridge^  Past  and  Present,  Miss 
E.  F.  Jones;  Muhhekaneok,  A  History  of  the  Stockbridge  Nation,  J.  N.  Davidson  ; 
and  Biographies  of  John  Sergeant,  Jonathan  Edwards  and  Stephen  West. 


234  SAMSON  OCCOM 

1735,  Sergeant  entered  upon  his  mission  and  was  ordained  at 
Deerfield,  August  31st,  the  Indians  being  present  and  publicly 
receiving  him  as  their  minister.^  He  had  scarcely  begun  his 
good  work  before  he  saw  the  necessity  of  more  permanent 
civilizing  influences.  This  end  he  planned  to  attain  by  estab- 
lishing a  town,  in  which  the  Indians  could  live  on  their  own 
lands  and  be  continuously  under  his  ministry.  He  also 
thought  it  would  be  well — in  the  words  of  Governor  Belcher, 
who  endorsed  the  scheme,  "  that  some  English  Families  be 
interspers'd  and  settled  among  the  Indians,  for  to  civilize  will 
be  the  readiest  way  to  christianize  them,"  Accordingly  under 
the  authority  of  the  General  Court,  the  Indians  surrendered 
their  other  lands,  and  a  township  was  secured  by  buying  off 
the  few  white  settlers,  to  which  the  Indians  removed  in  1736. 
This  town,  six  miles  square,  was  incorporated  in  May,  1739,  as 
Stockbridge.  Sergeant  built  a  house  there  in  1737  ;  and  the 
same  year  "a  Meeting-House  of  thirty  Feet  broad  and  forty 
long  together  with  a  School-House  "  were  begun  at  the  expense 
of  the  Colony.  He  soon  acquired  the  native  language  and 
preached  with  marked  effect.  Parts  of  the  Bible,  prayers  and 
Watts'  Catechism  were  translated  for  their  use.  Indian  boys, 
who  were  maintained  on  the  Hollis  foundation,  were  instructed, 
and  by  his  success  he  was  led  to  project  an  Indian  boarding- 
school.  A  building  was  erected  in  1749  for  its  accommoda- 
tion, but  on  account  of  Sergeant's  death,  on  the  twenty-seventh 
of  July,  the  school  fell  into  other  hands  and  after  a  few  years 
it  failed  through   poor  management.     In  1750  the   town   con- 

3  Gospel  Ministers  |  Must  be  fit  for  |  The  Master's  Use,  |  and  |  Prepared  to  every 
Good  Work,  )  if  they  would  be  Vessels  unto  Honour  ;  |  Illustrated  in  |  A  Sermon  | 
Preached  at  Deerfield,  August  31.  1735.  |  At  the  Ordination  of  |  Mr.  John  Sargeant, 
I  To  the  Evangelical  Ministry,  with  a  special  Reference — to  the  Indians  at  Houssa. 
tonnoc,  who  have  lately  |  manifested  their  desires  to  receive  the  Gospel.  |  By  Nathan- 
iel Appleton,  M.  A.  .  .  .  Boston:  .  .  .  S.  Kneeland  &  T.  Green.  MDCCXXXV, 
8'  pp.  (2)  XIV,  33.  [Conn.  Hist.  Soc]  Another  edition  was  printed  at  Edinburgh 
in  1736. 


INDIAN  FRIENDS  AT  STOCKBRIDGE  235 

tained  fifty-three  families  of  Indians,  who  had  twenty  houses 
built  in  the  English  fashion.  Of  the  218  individuals  in  these 
families,  129  had  been  baptized,  forty-two  of  whom  were  com- 
municants. At  this  time  all  of  David  Brainerd's  Indians  at 
Kaunaumeek,  where  he  had  labored  for  a  year  from  April  i, 
1743,  had  removed  to  Stockbridge. 

One  feature  of  John  Sergeant's  work  it  is  important  to  notice 
— he  baptized  such  natives  as  renounced  heathenism  several 
years  before  a  church  was  formed  with  which  they  could  fel- 
lowship. In  this  he  followed  the  example  of  John  Eliot.  His 
interpreter,  when  he  first  visited  them  in  1734,  Ebenezer 
Paupaumnuk,  was  examined  by  Mr.  Bull,  and  baptized  the 
seventeenth  of  October.  Captain  Konkapot  and  Lieutenant 
Umpachenee,  with  their  wives,  were  baptized  in  November, 
1735,  ^"d  within  a  year  after  his  ordination  about  forty  infants 
and  adults  had  received  baptism.  This  fact  has  led  some  to 
conclude  that  a  church  was  then  formed  ;  but  we  think  there 
was  no  such  organization  until  1738.  Baptism  was  practised 
as  the  sign  of  a  renunciation  of  heathenism  and  preparatory 
to  church  estate  when  the  time  should  come.  In  the  spring 
of  1738  four  white  families,  of  a  character  approved  by  Ser- 
geant, had  become  residents.  The  commissioners'  manuscript 
records  note  under  June  third  the  report  of  Captain  Williams, 
that  there  was  "  likely  to  be  a  church  gathered  at  Housatonic 
in  a  short  time  "  ;  and  their  first  Lord's  Supper  was  celebrated 
on  the  fourth  of  June.  We  conclude,  therefore,  that  the  church 
had  been  formed  during  the  week  previous  to  that  date.^ 
There  were  eleven  communicants,  some  of  whom  were  Indians. 
Peter  Pauquaunaupeet  was  chosen  a  deacon.  During  his  min- 
istry Sergeant  baptized  182  Indians  and  admitted  about  sixty 
to  the  church.      His  successor,  Rev.  Jonathan   Edwards,  ad- 

*  The  claim  has  always  been  that  this  church  was  organized  in  1734.  Muhhekaneok, 
pp.  4,  5  ;  Stockbridge,  Past  and  Present,  p.  42  ;  and  Dr.  Field  in  Barber's  Historical 
Collections  of  Mass.,  p.  97. 


236  SAMSON  OCCOM 

mitted   about  twenty-five   and   Rev.   Stephen    West   nearly   as 
many.^ 

The  defect  in  John  Sergeant's  scheme  of  Indian  civilization 
wa§  in  the  introduction  of  families  of  whites  into  the  town. 
This  operated,  as  it  always  has,  to  the  injury  of  the  weaker 
race.  Samson  Occom  at  Brothertown  contended  against  this 
feature.  So  soon  as  the  lands  at  Stockbridge  were  divided, 
and  so  held  that  the  Indians  could  sell  their  claims,  they  did 
so.  The  whites  thus  gradually  crowded  them  out.  In  the 
church  also  there  was  more  or  less  distinction  between  the 
natives  and  the  English,  and  finally  in  1775  ^^  Indian  portion 
of  the  congregation  was  committed  by  Dr.  West  to  the  care  of 
John  Sergeant,  the  son  of  their  first  minister,  who  had  previ- 
ously taught  school  there.®  He  received  the  salary  which  had 
been  allowed  for  the  mission  by  the  Scotch  Society.  Some 
writers  have  said  that  at  this  time  sixteen  Indians  took  letters 
from  the  old  church  and  formed  a  new  organization.  We 
think  this  is  an  error,  and  that  the  Indian  church  was  formed 
ten  years  later  in  anticipation  of  their  removal  to  the  Oneida 
country.  A  separate  church  at  Stockbridge  was  not  needed. 
Indeed,  there  is  evidence  that  some  of  the  principal  Christian 
Indians  retained  their  membership  in  the  mother  church,  par- 
ticipating in  their  sacramental  occasions  under  the  leadership 
of  John   Sergeant.     He  was  practically  an  associate  minister, 

5  Dr.  Field's  MSS.  in  the  Conn.  Hist.  Soc. 

"  John  Sergeant,  the  elder,  was  born  in  Newark,  N.  J.,  in  1710,  being  the  son  of 
Jonathan  and  Mary  Sergeant.  His  father  had  removed  to  New  Jersey  from  Bran- 
ford,  Conn.  He  graduated  from  Yale  College  in  1729  and  became  a  tutor  there  in 
1731.  He  married,  August  16,  1739,  Abigail,  eldest  daughter  of  Colonel  Ephraim 
Williams  of  Stockbridge,  and  they  had  three  children,  Erastus,  John  and  a  daughter 
who  married  Colonel  Mark  Hopkins  gf  Great  Barrington  and  was  the  grandmother 
of  the  famous  president  of  Williams  College.  After  John  Sergeant's  death  his 
widow  married  General  Joseph  Dwight  of  Great  Barrington,  by  whom  she  had  three 
children.  John  Sergeant,  the  younger,  was  born  at  Stockbridge  in  1747.  After  the 
Indians  had  been  some  years  at  New  Stockbridge  he  removed  his  family  thither,  and 
there  died  Sept.  7,  1824. 


INDIAN  FRIENDS  AT  STOCKBRIDGh  237 

having  charge  of  the  Indian  portion  of  the  church.  In  man) 
respects  he  was  well  adapted  to  this-  service.  Although  he 
was  an  infant  when  his  father  died,  he  had  imbibed  from  his 
mother  an  interest  in  the  missionary  cause,  and  especially  in 
the  Indians  to  whose  welfare  his  father  had  been  so  devoted. 
He  knew  the  language  perfectly,  and  the  natives  naturally 
looked  upon  him  as  their-friend  in  his  father's  stead.  Thus, 
having  been  prepared  by  some  theological  instruction  under 
Dr.  West,  he  entered  with  zeal  upon  the  service.  The  period 
of  his  labors  at  Stockbridge  was  full  of  troubles  for  the  Indians. 
Their  lands  had  gradually  slipped  away  from  them.  Some 
were  reduced  to  poverty.  Many  of  the  older  members  of  the 
church,  who  seem  to  have  been  Christian  Indians  of  remark- 
able piety,  had  passed  away,  and  the  younger  generation  were 
less  inclined  to  education  and  religion.  Yet  amid  all  these 
trials  John  Sergeant  sought  with  faith,  earnestness  and  wisdom 
to  maintain  the  Christian  character  of  the  tribe. 

As"  the  American  Revolution  was  a  serious  blow  to  the 
Brothertown  Indians,  so  it  was  to  the  Stockbridge  tribe.  It 
was  to  be  expected  that  they  would  be  loyal  to  the  patriot 
cause,  and  they  were.  Many  of  them  enlisted  in  the  company 
of  Captain  William  Goodrich,  of  which  Jehoiakim  Mtohksin 
was  second  lieutenant,  and  marched  from  Stockbridge  on  the 
23d  of  April,  1775.  Later  others  joined  this  company,  among 
them  Hendrick  Aupaumut  and  Jacob  Konkapot.  It  was  sta- 
tioned at  Watertown.  There  were  thirty-five  Stockbridge 
Indians  in  this  one  company.  Timothy  Yokens,  who  was  first 
sergeant,  afterwards  became  captain  of  a  company  of  Indian 
rangers  who  did  honorable  service.  The  tribe  sent  a  full 
company  to  White  Plains,  under  Captain  Daniel  Nimham,  of 
whom  thirty  were  killed  and  others  died  of  disease.  Twenty 
blankets  were  sent  to  their  families  at  Stockbridge,  partly  in 
recognition  of  this  service — "five  to  the  widows  of  the  Indians 
lately  slain   at  White  Plains."     Most  of  the  killed  were  young 


238  SAMSON  OCCOM 

men.  This  action  occurred  August  31,  1778,  and  a  petition  to 
the  General  Court  of  Massachusetts,  dated  September  twenty- 
second,  says,  "many  lately  fell  in  battle."  General  Washington 
wrote  that  Captain  Hendrick  and  others  were  with  the  army  in 
1778,  and  that  the  tribe  suffered  severely  during  that  campaign 
and  lost  a  chief  and  several  warriors.  A  newspaper  of  the  time 
gives  an  interesting  account  of  the  adventures  of  five  of  these 
Stockbridge  Indians,  who  were  sent  on  a  scout  under  Abraham 
[Konkapot]  and  brought  in  six  prisoners.'^  A  number  were 
in  the  company  of  Captain  Enoch  Noble,  which  marched  to 
Bennington  in  October,  1780.  There  was,  indeed,  scarcely  an 
able-bodied  man  in  the  tribe  who  was  not  at  some  time  in  the 
service.  Some  of  them  served  throughout  the  war  in  the  Con- 
tinental army.  "At  the  close  of  the  war,"  it  is  said,  "  General 
Washington  directed  a  feast  to  be  prepared  for  the  Indians  in 
consideration  of  their  good  conduct,  and  an  ox  was  roasted 
whole,  of  which  the  tribe  partook,  the  men  first  and  then  the 
women  and  children."^  We  can  scarcely  appreciate  at  this 
day  the  demoralizing  effect  of  the  war  upon  this  tribe.  Wid- 
ows and  orphans  were  left  without  means  of  support.  Nearly 
half  of  their  young  men  had  perished.  They  were  reduced  in 
ambition,  and  the  salutary  effects  of  religion  were  dissipated. 
Yet  in  this  we  see  one  of  the  practical  results  of  their  civiliza- 
tion,—they  recovered  quickly  from  these  evils  and  set  their 
faces  toward  the  future  in  new  hope. 

The  sachemship  of  the  Stockbridge  Indians  devolved  in 
1777  upon  Joseph  Quanaukaunt  [Quinney].  He  had  for  his 
councilors  three  conspicuous  young  men,  who  had  a  great  influ- 
ence upon  the  subsequent  life  of  the  tribe.  The  first  was  Peter 
Pauquaunaupeet  [Pohquonnoppeet,  Pohquannopput,  Poh- 
qunohpeet,  Poquanopeet,  Pohquenumpec,  and  Ponknepeet.] 
He  was   a  son  of  the  first  Indian  deacon  of  the  same  name. 

7  Penn.  Journal^  Sept.  3,  1777,  in  Moore's  Diary  of  the  Revolution^  pp.  474,  475. 
8  Jones'  Annals  of  Oneida  Comity ,  p.  888. 


INDIAN  FRIENDS  AT  STOCKBRIDGE  239 

Having  been  instructed  in  the  school  there,  he  was  sent  in 
177 1  to  Dartmouth  College,  where  he  spent  most  of  the  time 
in  study  until  1780,  when  he  graduated.  Sergeant  wrote  of 
him  in  1771,  ''He  is  not  so  quick  to  learn  as  some,  but  appears 
to  relish  what  he  does  get,  is  of  a  steady  turn  of  mind  and  of 
a  good  family."  The  custom  then  was  to  prefix  "  Sir  "  to  the 
names  of  seniors,  from  which  fact  he  derived  the  name  he  bore 
throughout  his  after  life — "  Sir  Peter."  After  his  graduation 
he  returned  to  Stockbridge  and  taught  the  school  for  a  time. 
It  is  said  that  "he  was  possessed  of  good  talents  and  sus- 
tained an  unblemished  character."  This  Indian  we  shall  meet 
again.  The  second  of  these  councilors  was  Hendrick  Aupau- 
mut.  We  have  reason  to  think  that  he  was  a  descendant  of 
Hendrick,  the  celebrated  Mohawk  chief,  who  in  1750  came  to 
Stockbridge  with  about  ninety  of  that  tribe  to  obtain  an  edu- 
cation. This  chief  is  said  to  have  been  related  to  Joseph 
Brant  and  Molly,  his  sister,  the  Indian  wife  of  Sir  William 
Johnson.  He  was  killed  in  the  war  of  1755.  Hendrick 
Aupaumut  was  educated  in  the  Stockbridge  school.  He 
enlisted  in  the  Revolutionary  War  and  won  distinction,  being 
at  one  time  in  command  of  a  company,  probably  of  scouts. 
The  name  he  afterwards  bore  was  derived  from  this  service — 
"Captain  Hendrick."  This  Indian  also  appears  in  later 
events.  He  became  one  of  the  most  conspicuous  Indians  in 
the  tribe,  their  chief,  and  an  emissary  to  the  far  West  on  sev- 
eral occasions.  The  third  councilor  was  John  Konkapot 
[Kunkapot,  Concopot,  Kunkerpot,  Konkpott],  a  son  or  grand- 
son of  their  first  Christian  chief.  He  also  was  taught  in  the 
Indian  school  and  entered  Dartmouth  College,  where  he  was 
at  the  commencement  of  the  Revolution.  The  name  usually 
given  him  by  Doctor  Wheelock  was  John  Stockbridge.  In  a 
petition  which  he  presented  to  the  General  Assembly  of 
Massachusetts,  June  7,  1781,  asking  for  six  months'  pay  as 
the  teacher  at  Stockbridge,  he  says  "  he  early  entered  into  the 


240  SAMSON  OCCOM 

service  of  the  United  States  and  suffered  loss,  that  he  has 
since  applied  himself  to  learning  and  has  been  some  time  in 
college,  since  which  he  has  been  employed  in  keeping  school."^ 
He  probably  enlisted  early  in  the  war,  and  he  was  certainly 
one  of  those  who  marched  to  Bennington  in  1780.  In  his 
later  life  he  was  sometimes  called  "Captain  John"  in  conse- 
quence of  this  military  service.  These  three  councilors,  it  will 
be  observed,  were  fairly  well  educated.  The  second  was  a 
member  of  the  Stockbridge  church.  All  had  knowledge  of 
public  affairs.  In  short,  they  came  into  power  at  a  time  when 
such  leaders  were  needed  to  revive  the  strength  of  the  tribe, 
and  lead  them  forth  into  the  future. 

Such  were  the  Stockbridge  Indians  at  the  time  the  Brother- 
town  refugees  settled  near  them.  It  w^as  never  the  latter's 
intent  to  remain  there  longer  than  was  necessary — their  homes 
were  in  the  wilderness.  As  to  their  experiences  while  there 
we  have  only  glimpses  of  them.  In  1780  they  presented  a  peti- 
tion to  their  old  friends  in  Connecticut  which  we  submit  in 
evidence  of  their  condition  : 

To  the  Honorable  the  General  Assembly  of  the  State  of  Connecticut  now 
Sitting  at  Hartford 

This  may  Certify  that  We  who  removed  from  the  New  England  States 
to  the  Oneida,  and  resided  on  a  tract  of  land  granted  to  us  from  our  Breth- 
ren the  Six  Nations,  have  been  lately  driven  from  our  Settlements  by  the 
Enemy  and  sustained  grate  damage  leaving  our  Effects — by  which  means 
[we]  are  now  reduced  to  the  necessity  of  Seeking  a  redress — particularly  are 
[we]  desirous  of  being  instructed  in  the  great  things  of  religion,  and  [having] 
our  Children  trained  up  to  enjoy'a  School  and  religious  Privileges — and  as 
Daniel  Simon  of  the  Narragansit  Tribe  of  Indians  of  a  College  Education, 
properly  authorized  and  ordained  to  Preach  the  Gospel,  has  been  both  keep- 
ing a  School  and  Preaching  among  us  the  most  of  the  Time  Since  the  first 
of  May  last,  upon  his  own  expence  and  Charge — and  we  are  unable  to  pay 
him  and  being  desirous  of  his  Continueing  among  us — and  all  Funds  of 
Money  for  the  Spread  of  the  Gospel  among  the  Indians  are  Stop'd — and 
therefore  we  are  obleg'd  to  apply  to  any  State  where  ever  God  in  his  Provi- 
dence may  open  the  Hearts  of  his  People  to  us,  v/ith  a  Charitable  design, 

^  Mass.  Archives^  Vol.  144,  p.  476. 


INDIAN  FRIENDS  AT  STOCKBRIDGE  24I 

Praying  that  your  Honors  would  Consider  us — they  of  the  State  to  which 
we  formerly  belong'd  and  were  particularly  our  Brethren  from  whom  we 
have  heretofore  received  many  favours — we  have  twenty  two  Childrun 
which  we  are  exceedingly  desirous  Should  be  instructed  the  insuing  year — 
and  Should  be  thankfull  for  Simon  even  three  Months  Schoolling — as  we 
Shall  all  reside  in  the  neighborhood  of  Stockbridge  till  these  troubles  be 
over — we  therefore  would  earnestly  pray  them  to  encourage  Daniel  Simon 
our  Brother  by  donation  or  any  other  way,  therefore  we  have  made 
known  our  request  wishing  the  Healths  and  Prosperity  of  your  own  Per- 
sons—which we  will  ever  pray 
West  Stockbridge,  Oct^"    th  —  1780 

Gideon  Comruy  [?] 
Elijah  Wimpey 
James  Cusk 
Andrew  Corcomp 
John  Adams 

P.  S.     By  request  I  certify  the  foregoing  representation  to  be  just  &  true, 
&  would  recommeiid  them  to  the  Charity  of  those  who  are  able  to   afford 
them  Relief. 
Stockbridge 

13  Octob'"  17S0  Sam^    KirklandIo 

On  this  petition  the  upper  house  granted  ^30  from  the  pub- 
lic treasury,  but  the  lower  house  did  not  concur.  The  result 
of  the  ensuing  conference  was  probably  the  issuing  of  a  brief 
for  collections  in  the  churches,  though  no  copy  of  this  docu- 
ment is  known  to  have  survived.  The  fact  is  recovered  from 
a  later  petition,  May  8,  1783,  asking  for  the  redemption  of 
;^77-i5-ii  in  bills  collected.  In  this  they  thank  the  General 
Assembly  for  "the  repeated  Kindness  and  Favours  conferred 
upon  them  by  their  best  Friends  and  Brothers,  the  Inhabitants 
of  their  Native  and  Beloved  State.  Particularly  in  the  late 
Instance  of  a  Brief  granted  by  a  former  General  Assembly  for 
a  Contribution  in  Several  Churches  within  the  State."  This 
document  was  signed  by  Elijah  Wampey,  David  Fowler  and 
Samuel  Adams,  and  accompanied  by  letters  from  Samuel 
Kirkland  and  Stephen  West  to  Dr.  Nathan   Strong  of   Hart- 

■    ^^  Conn.  Archives^  Indians^  II,  226. 
17 


242  SAA/SOAT  OCCOM 

ford.^^  Their  request  was  granted  by  the  payment  of  ;!^33-i-8 
for  the  bills.  We  learn  from  these  documents  that  there  were 
in  all  forty-four  of  them  at  West  Stockbridge.  This  probably 
includes  the  few  who  were  within  the  present  borders  of  Rich- 
mond, where  David  Fowler  lived.  Kirkland  says,  "They  are 
really  distressed  objects."  They  had  experienced  sickness  and 
many  were  reduced  to  poverty.  Evidence  is  also  thus  ob- 
tained that  they  were  preparing  to  return  to  Oneida,  and  this 
removal  the  funds  collected  for  them  made  possible. 

Who  was  this  Daniel  Simon  [Simons]  who  had  been  their 
teacher  and  minister.?  He  was  a  Narragansett  Indian,  and 
one  of  Wheelock's  Indian  pupils  of  the  Lebanon  school, 
already  mentioned  in  that  connection.  With  his  brother 
Abraham  he  had  gone  with  the  school  to  Hanover.  There 
he  studied  for  some  years,  graduating  in  the  class  of  1777.  A 
letter  is  preserved  among  the  Wheelock  Papers  in  which  he 
complained  to  his  benefactor  that  he  was  compelled  to  work 
so  much  of  the  time  that  he  could  not  study — he  already  knew 
how  to  work  and  wanted  to  learn  something  else — "What 
good  will  the  charity  money  do  the  poor  Indian  "  if  he  has  to 
pay  his  way.?^^  He  was  in  college  at  the  breaking  out  of  the 
Revolution,  and  was  the  Indian  who  is  said  to  have  heard  the 
guns  of  Bunker  Hill  by  putting  his  ear  to  the  earth — a  fact 
which  others  at  the  time  confirmed.  After  his  graduation 
he  continued  at  Hanover  studying  theology  under  Doctor 
Wheelock,  and  he  was  approved  as  an  Indian  preacher  by  the 
Grafton  Presbytery,  January  29,  1778.  On  the  seventh  of  Octo- 
ber, following,  he  wrote  the  president  a  letter  as  follows:  "I 
have  been  preaching  some  about  the  country  since  I  left  col- 
lege. Do  not  engage  long  at  a  place  on  the  account  I  am 
young  in  the  ministry.  I  am  at  present  keeping  school  at 
Stockbridge,  where  I  have  thirty  and  forty  in  my  school,  and 

^1  Conn.  Archives^  Indians,  II,  227-229. 
12  Wheelock  Papers,  Lett.  Sept.  1771. 


INDIAN  FRIENDS  A 'I    STOCKBRIDGE  243 

sometimes  fifty.  I  began  my  school  on  the  first  of  May* and 
engaged  for  five  months ;  have  preached  some  in  the  towns 
round  about  and  supplied  the  pulpit  of  the  great  and  good 
Mr.  West,  in  his  absence,  two  Sabbaths.  But  Mr.  West  and 
I  am  not  familiar,  by  reason  I  find,  that  I  am  in  or  near  the 
centre  of  Gravity.  It  is  not  allowed  for  a  sinner  to  pray  here, 
because  all  things  are  ordained  of  God,  and  neither  can  the 
sinner  change  the  counsel  of  the  Divine  Being  by  prayer. 
But  I  may  say  this,  that  some  people's  God  is  my  devil. "^^ 
The  commissioners'  records  show  that  Simons  undertook  this 
work  of  teaching  with  the  approval  of  John  Sergeant,  but  he 
did  not  continue  in  it  long.  On  the  first  of  May,  1780,  he 
seems  to  have  begun  a  similar  work  among  the  Brothertown 
Indians  at  West  Stockbridge.  He  may  have  continued  with 
them  to  1783;  but  in  that  year  he  became  a  missionary 
among  the  Indians  at  Cranbery,  N.  J.,  succeeding  Rev.  John 
Brainerd.  It  is  said  that  he  was  not  long  after  suspended 
from  the  ministry  for  intemperance.^^  He  was  never  an 
ordained  minister.  Certainly  his  relations  with  the  Broth- 
ertown Indians  terminated  in  1783,  though  others  of  his 
family  became  useful  and  faithful  members  of  the  Oneida 
settlement. 

We  are  now  approaching  the  close  of  this  distressing  period 
in  the  history  of  the  Christian  Indians  of  New  England.  It 
remains  only  to  point  out  the  fact,  which  the  reader  may  have 
conjectured  already,  that  it  was  the  influence  of  these  Brother- 
town  refugees  which  led  the  Stockbridge  tribe  also  to  project 
a  removal  to  the  Oneida  country.  A  friendship  w^as  formed 
between  the  tribes  during  those  six  years,  which  has  con- 
tinued to  the  present  time.  The  refugees  did  not  suffer  the 
enthusiasm  over  the  emigration  to  die  out.  It  was  uppermost 
in  their  minds.     They  had  left  pleasant  homes  in  those  fertile 

"  Chapman's  Ahomti  of  Dart.  Coll.,  p.  22. 
"  Ibid. 


244  SAMSOiV  OCCOM 

valleys  of  New  York,  to  which  they  would  return  like  the  chil- 
dren of  Jacob  to  Canaan.  During  the  Revolution  others  in 
the  old  settlements  were  preparing  to  join  these  pioneers  by 
selling  their  lands,  which  in  several  instances  required  legis- 
lative action.  It  has  been  claimed  by  some  that  the  Stock- 
bridge  Indians  had  secured  a  tract  of  land  from  the  Oneidas 
before  the  Revolution.  Some  have  even  thought  that  a  few 
of  them  removed  thither.  This  is  an  error.  It  probably  arose 
from  the  impression  that  they  were  included  in  the  grant  of 
1774  to  the  seven  settlements,  usually  called  thereafter  the 
"  New  England  Indians."  At  that  time  the  Stockbridge  tribe 
had  no  thought  of  emigration,  notwithstanding  the  fact  that 
they  had  disposed  of  the  greater  part  of  their  lands.  The 
way  was  opened  for  them,  however,  by  their  friends,  who  had 
a  very  extensive  tract  themselves,  and  were  assured  that  a 
similar  grant  would  be  made  to  the  Indians  at  Stockbridge 
who  had  succored  them.  So  it  happened.  When  the  Broth- 
ertown  Indians  in  1783  returned  to  their  Oneida  homes,  a 
number  of  the  Stockbridge  tribe  accompanied  them.  It  was  a 
return  of  that  hospitality  which  they  had  themselves  received. 
Then  these  Stockbridge  chiefs  held  a  council  with  the  Oneidas 
and  were  duly  adopted  by  them  after  the  Indian  custom,  re- 
ceiving the  promise  of  a  tract  of  land  six  miles  square.  We 
have  not  been  able  to  find  any  written  agreement  or  convey- 
ance of  this  grant,  though  one  was  probably  made.  Indian 
affairs  were  then  in  a  very  unsettled  state.  It  is  certain,  how- 
ever, that  the  promise  w^as  then  given  them,  and  they  returned 
to  Stockbridge  to  prepare  for  a  removal.  Most  of  them  came 
thither  in  the  spring  of  1785,  but  they  did  not  all  remain 
through  the  following  winter.  Others  came  in  1788.  Samuel 
Kirkland  wrote,  March  10,  1784,  "The  Oneidas  expect  in  the 
course  of  two^  years  to  have  more  than  a  thousand  Indians  in 
this  vicinity  who  \yill  be  disposed  to  attend  the  word  of  God." 
This  undoubtedly  refers   to  a   prospective  increase  from   the 


INDIAN  FRIENDS  AT  STOCKBRIDGE  245 

Stockbridge  and  New  England  tribes.  Some  of  the  chiefs  of 
the  former  were  present  at  the  Treaty  held  at  Fort  Herkimer 
in  June,  1785,  and  the  Oneidas  then  spoke  of  them  as  their 
"younger  brethren."  All  these  earlier  grants  were  super- 
seded at  the  Treaty  of  Fort  Schuyler  in  September,  1788, 
when  the  Oneidas,  in  their  cession  to  the  state  of  New  York, 
made  this  reservation  that:  "  the  New  England  Indians  (now 
settled  at  Brothertown  under  the  pastoral  care  of  Reverend 
Samson  Occom)  and  their  posterity  forever  and  the  Stock- 
bridge  Indians  and  their  posterity  forever  are  to  enjoy  their 
Settlements  on  the  Lands  heretofore  given  to  them  by  the 
Oneidas  for  that  purpose,  that  is  to  say  a  Tract  Two  Miles 
in  Breadth  and  three  miles  in  length  for  the  New  England 
Indians  and  a  Tract  of  Six  Miles  square  for  the  Stockbridge 
Indians."  At  first  some  of  the  latter  tribe  seem  to  have 
settled  within  the  bounds  of  the  grant  to  the  former,  much 
more  extensive  in  the  agreement  of  1774  than  as  reduced  in 
1788.  Afterwards  their  tract  six  miles  square  was  located 
for  them,  and  it  was  partly  within  the  town  of  Vernon,  Oneida 
county,  and  partly  within  the  town  of  Stockbridge,  Madison 
county,  as  now  described.  The  Stockbridge  Indians,  in 
memory  of  their  old  home  in  Massachusetts,  named  their 
settlement  New  Stockbridge.  In  the  year  1785  they  num- 
bered 420.  There  they  lived  for  many  years,  until  1818, 
when  some  of  them  removed  to  White  River,  Indiana.  At 
that  time  they  began  to  sell  their  lands,  and  this  continued 
until  they  were  all  established  again  beside  their  friends,  the 
Brothertown  Indians,  on  the  east  side  of  Winnebago  Lake,  in 
Wisconsin. 

No  single  tribe  of  New  England  Indians  has  a  more  inter- 
esting history  than  this,  whose  wigwams  once  dotted  the 
banks  of  the  swift-fiowing  Housatonic.  Its  chiefs  won  their 
first  distinction  from  the  white  man  in  recognition  of  their 
friendly  service.     Intelligent,  brave  and  incfustrious  they  have 


246  SAMSON  OCCOM 

always  been,  and  on  the  battle-fields  of  every  war  which  has 
roused  the  patriot  to  arms  their  warriors  have  fallen.  Among 
them  the  best  of  missionaries  and  the  greatest  of  divines  have 
lived  and  taught.  If  weaknesses  have  been  theirs,  they  have 
been  those  of  the  race,  and  they  have  paid  the  penalty  in 
hardships  and  wasting  death.  On  the  hunt  and  in  the  wilder- 
ness they  have  tasted  adventure.  Romance  has  been  woven 
into  their  story — a  thread  of  gold  in  a  worn  and  fretted  gar- 
ment. So  this  nation,  having  followed  the  trail  of  civilization 
for  more  than  a  century  and  a  half,  has  come  to  an  honorable 
old  age  and  leans  upon  the  staff  among  the  sachems  of  the 
West. 


CHAPTER   XIV 

THE    MISSIONARY    OF    THE    WILDERNESS 
1783-1789 

Peace  was  at  length  restored  in  the  colonies  which  had 
achieved  their  independence.  Then  the  first  of  many  com- 
panies of  emigrants  to  cross  the  Hudson  River  and  thread 
their  way  along  the  Mohawk  westward,  in  1783,  was  composed 
of  New  England  Indians.  Their  leader  was  David  Fowler. 
He  and  some  others  had  visited  their  deserted  huts  at  Brother- 
town  in  the  summer  of  1782  ;  but  now  it  was  safe  for  them  to 
remove  their  families  thither.  We  have  no  record  of  their 
experiences  during  that  season.  Some  at  least  returned  late 
in  the  autumn  to  Stockbridge  to  escape  the  winter  in  that  vast 
and  cheerless  wilderness. 

The  first  delegation  from  the  old  settlements  set  out  May  8, 
1784.^  It  now  devolved  upon  Samson  Occom,  as  in  com- 
mand of  the  reserves,  to  push  forward  the  Indian  families  as 
they  could  be  made  ready,  and  in  this  service  he  was  engaged 
more  or  less  for  several  years.  On  the  date  above  named  a 
number  of  families  set  sail  from  New  London  in  the  sloop 
Victory,  commanded  by  Captain  Hayley.  Occom  notes  in  his 
diary  their  fortunes  of  wind  and  weather  as  they  coasted 
along  toward  New  York,  where  they  arrived  at  6  o'clock  in  the 
evening  of  the  tenth.  The  nights  had  been  spent  at  anchor  in 
safe  waters.  The  ninth  was  a  Sabbath  and,  the  sea  being  calm, 
the  reverend  elder  of  this  company  of  Indian  pilgrims  con- 
ducted a  service  on  the  deck,  expounding  a  part  of  the  twenty 

'  Occoni's  Diary ^  Dart.  Coll. 
247 


248  SAMSON  OCCOM 

fifth  chapter  of  Matthew,  wherein  he  might  have  found  sundry 
lessons  appropriate  to  this  novel  situation.  The  only  persons 
known  to  have  been  in  that  congregation  were  Jacob  Fowler 
and  Esther  Poquiantup  his  wife,  Anthony  Paul  and  Christiana 
Occom  his  wife,  with  four  young  children,  and  the  mother 
"  Widow  Paul "  with  her  son  John.  Others  were  with  them, 
but  their  names  are  unknown.  Occom  and  Jacob  Fowler  left 
the  ship  at  New  York  to  call  on  Dr.  Rodgers  and  others  with 
a  view  of  obtaining  further  financial  assistance  in  the  emigra- 
tion. On  the  twelfth  they  went  on  board  an  Albany  sloop, 
Mr.  Waters,  master,  having  as  fellow  passengers  "  a  number  of 
very  agreeable  gentlemen "  who  were  members  of  the  New 
York  General  Assembly.  To  them  on  the  voyage  they  un- 
folded their  plan,  in  which  the  gentlemen  were  "much  inter- 
ested. Thus  early  Occom  began  an  acquaintance  with  the 
members  of  that  body,  over  whose  legislation  in  Indian  affairs 
he  had  considerable  influence.  At  Albany  they  overtook  their 
people.  Occom  made  application  to  the  chief  men  of  the  town 
for  assistance,  but  provisions  were  no  longer  allowed  to  Indians, 
as  had  been  the  case  during  the  Revolution.  They  were  per- 
mitted to  put  up  at  the  hospital  and  the  people  were  very  kind 
to  them.  Occom  was  invited  to  speak  to  the  prisoners  and  com- 
plied. On  the  twenty-second  the  Indian  company  started  for- 
ward on  their  way  to  Schenectady,  Occom  remaining  to  preach 
on  the  Sabbath,  as  he  did  twice  in  the  Presbyterian  meeting- 
house. Collections  amounting  to  eight  pounds  were  taken  up 
in  behalf  of  his  people.  From  Albany  he  turned  back,  leaving 
Jacob  Fowler  to  guide  the  emigrants  to  their  new  homes. 

The  expense  of  this  party  was  considerable,  and  Occom  had 
given  his  own  personal  note  for  their  passage  from  New  Lon- 
don to  Albany.  All  that  he  collected  on  the  way  was  not  sufh- 
cient  to  meet  this.  Such  were  the  troubles  he  had  in  removing 
his  people  to  Oneida.  This,  too,  was  the  reason  he  did  not  at 
once  go  with  them.   His  service  was  necessary  in  New  England 


THE  MISSIONARY  OF   THE    WILDERNESS  249 

on  his  own  account  and  on  theirs.  He  reached  Mohegan  on 
the  seventh  of  June,  and  until  the  autumn  preached  here  and 
there  in  the  furtherance  of  this  work.  On  the  twenty-second  of 
September  he  set  out  for  Oneida  to  visit  his  people.  He  went 
first  to  Farmington,  where  he  stopped  with  Daniel  Mossuck, 
one  of  Wheelock's  Indian  pupils  who  is  here  met  \^ith  for  the 
Last  time  and  probably  died  there  soon  afterwards.  There  were 
then  only  eight  Indian  families  remaining  in  their  old  home 
on  Indian  Neck.  Here  he  also  found  George  Pharaoh  and 
his  family  from  Montauk  moving  up  to  Oneida.  Somewhere 
between  there  and  Stockbridge  he  visited  "  Bro.  Phineas,"  pos- 
sibly a  Fowler,  and  there  heard  of  the  death  of  his  daughter 
Talitha — "  a  mournful  addition  to  his  troubles."  At  Stock- 
bridge  he  found  that  almost  all  of  the  Indians  had  scattered, 
all  who  had  not  gone  to  Oneida.  So  he  went  on  his  way  to 
Richmond,  New  Bethlehem,  Albany,  Saratoga,  Stillwater  and 
the  Mohawk  River.  He  preached  wherever  he  had  opportunity 
and  there  was  scarcely  an  evening  that  he  did  not  gather  the 
people  in  some  pioneer  cabin,  to  teach  them  and  sing  his 
spiritual  songs.  This  will  illustrate  what  he  called  his  "pere- 
grinations," which  made  him  known  to  all  near  and  far  and 
won  him  the  honorable  title — "  the  missionary  of  the  wilder- 
ness." Ere  he  arrived  at  Brothertown  he  met  his  friends 
David  and  Jacob  Fowler  and  Elijah  Wampy.  In  company 
with  David  he  set  out  for  Brothertown.  Here  we  will  let  him 
tell  his  own  story : 

Monday  Ocf  24  [17S5] :  Some  Time  after  Breakfast  Brother  David 
Fowler  and  I  sot  of  to  go  thro'  the  Woods  to  our  Indians  new  Settlements, 
and  presently  after  we  sot  out  it  began  to  Rain  and  it  Rain'd  all  the  way 
not  very  hard, — and  it  was  extreemly  bad  muddy  riding,  and  the  Creeks 
were  very  high,  and  some  Places  were  Mirely,  and  we  were  over  taken  with 
Night  before  we  got  in,  and  some  places  were  very  Dark  where  Hamlock 
Trees  were,  our  Eyes  did  us  but  little  good,  we  travild  about  a  mile  in  the 
Dark  and  then  we  arriv'd  at  Davids  House,  as  [we]  approach'd  the  House 
I  heai*^  a  Melodious  Singing,  a  number  were  together  Singing  Psalms 
hymns  and  Spiritual  Songs.     We  went  in  amongst  them  and  they  all  took 


250  SAMSON  OCCOM 

hold  of  my  Hand  one  by  one  with  Joy  and  Gladness  from  the  greatest  to 
the  least,  and  we  sot  down  awhile,  and  then  they  began  to  sing  again,  and 
Some  Time  after  I  gave  them  a  few  words  of  Exhortation,  and  then  Con- 
cluded with  Prayer, — and  then  went  to  Sleep  Quietly,  the  Lord  be  praised 
for  his  great  goodness  to  us. 

Tuesday  Ocf  25.  Was  a  Snowy  Day,  was  very  uncomfortable  weather. 
I  kept  still  all  Day  at  Davids  House  and  it  was  crowded  all  Day,  some  of 
Onoydas  came  in  —  In  the  evening  Singers  came  in  again,  and  they  Sang 
till  near  ten  o.c.  and  then  I  gave  them  a  Word  of  Exhortation  and  con- 
cluded with  prayer,  so  we  ended  another  Day — 

Wednesday  Ocf  26 :  Snow  is  about  ancle  Deep  this  Morn'g  and  all 
slosh  under  the  Snow  and  the  Land  is  ful  of  water  every  where,  and  the 
Brooks  are  very  high — it  is  not  clear  wheather  yet  —  in  the  evening  we  had 
a  little  Singing  again  —  This  morning  I  rench'd  my  Back,  only  puting  on 
my  Stockings,  and  was  put  to  some  difficulty  to  go  out  all  Day. 

Thirdsday  Octo'"  27 :  Cloudy  but  moderate,  my  back  continues  as  it  was 
yesterday. 

Fryday  Ocf  28 :  it  was  warm  and  pleasant  Day  but  cloudy  the  bigest 
part  of  the  Day — in  the  evening  they  sung  (in  Abra™  Simons  House,  a 
mile  from  David  Fowlers)  [Erased] 

Fryday  Ocf  [29]  David  intended  to  gather  his  corn  but  it  look'd  very 
much  like  for  Rain,  and  so  [he]  defer  it  to  another  Day. — the  young  Folks 
went  in  the  evening  to  Abraham  Simons  a  mile  of  from  David  Fowlers  to 
sing,  but  I  did  not  go  my  back  continued  out  of  order. — 

Saturday  Ocf  29:  David  gather'd  his  corn,. he  had  a  number  of  Hands 
tho  it  was  cloudy  in  the  morning,  and  little  Rain,  and  in  ,the  after  noon  he 
husked  his  corn,  and  the  Huskers  Sung  Hymns  Psalms  and  Spiritual 
Songs  the  bigest  part  of  the  Time,  finish'd  in  the  evening — and  after  supper 
the  Singers  Sung  a  while,  and  then  dispersed. 

Sabbath  Oct""  30 :  Had  a  meeting  in  Davids  House,  and  a  Number  of 
Stockbridgers  came  to  meeting  to  the  distance  of  six  miles,  they  had  eleven 
Horses  and  there  was  a  number  of  foot  People,  and  there  was  a  Solemn 
Assembly,  the  People  attended  the  word  with  affection  many  of  them  —  I 
spoke  from  Mathew  iv.  10  :  in  the  after  Noon  from  —  xxxii :  i  :  in  the  evening 
we  had  Singing  a  long  while  and  then  gave  them  a  word  of  Exhortation 
and  concluded  with  Prayer  — 

Monday,  Tuesday  and  Wednesday  nothing  hapen'd  remarkable  only 
Rainy  and  Snowy  weather,  and  I  was  much  confind  my  wrentchd  Back  — 

Thirdsday  Nov""  3.  1785.  Towards  Night  we  attended  upon  the  antient 
ordenance  of  marrage,  the  first  that  ever  was  selebrated  by  our  People  in 
their  New  Settlement  in  this  Wilderness.  The  cupple  to  be  married  and 
the  Young  People  formed  in  a  Neighbouring  House  and  came  to  the  House 


THE  MISSIONARY  01    THE   WILDERNESS  25 1 

of  Weding  in  a  Regular  Procession  according  to  their  age  and  were  seated 
accordingly —  and  the  old  People  also  seated  themselves  Regularly,  and  A 
great  Number  of  Stockbridgers  came  from  their  Town  to  attend  the  Wed- 
ing, but  many  of  them  were  too  late  — 

When  I  got  up,  I  spoke  to  them  Some  Time  upon  the  nature  of  Mar- 
riage, the  Honourableness  and  Lawfulness  of  it,  whereby  we  are  distin- 
guished from  the  Brutal  Creation:  Said  Some  of  the  first  marrage  in  Eden 
&  of  the  Marrage  where  Christ  and  his  Disciples  were  invited  and  the 
Honour  he  did  to  it  by  working  the  first  mericle  he  wrought  in  the  World 
in  turning  water  into  Wine  and  then  we  prayed,  after  Prayer  I  orderd  them 
to  take  each  other  by  the  Right  Hand  alternately  and  then  I  declared  them 
in  the  Face  of  the  Assembly  to  be  a  Lawful  Husband  and  Wife,  according 
to  the  Law  of  god^ —  and  then  pray'd.  prayer  being  ended  Marriage 
salutations  went  round  Regularly,  and  concluded  by  Singing  a  Marriage 
Hymn  —  and  then  the  People  sat  down,  and  Jacob  Fowler  who  was 
appointed  Master  of  Serimonies  at'this  Marriage,  gave  out  some  Drink  a 
Round  the  Company  and  then  Supper  was  brought,  sot  in  order  on  a  long 
Board,  and  we  sot  down  to  eat,  and  had  Totty  well  sweeten'd  with  wild 
Sugar  made  of  Sugar  Trees  in  the  Wilderness :  and  after  supper  we  Spent 
the  Evening  in  Singing  Psalms  Hymns  and  Spiritual  Songs, — and  after  that 
every  [one]  went  home  Peaceably  without  any  Carausing  or  Frollicking. 

Fryday  Nov'  4:  The  Young  People  put  on  their  best  Clouths,  and  went 
to  a  Neighbours  House,  all  on  Horse  back,  and  they  appear'd  agreeable 
and  Decent,  arwi  they  had  no  carousing,  they  had  some  Pleasant  chat  and 
agreable  conduct,  some  Singing  of  Psalms  Hymns  and  Spiritual  Songs. 
Some  Time  in  the  after  Noon  they  dined  together,  and  after  Dinner  every 
one  went  Home  Quietly. — so  the  Weding  ended,  and  it  was  conducted, 
caried  on  and  finished  with  Honour  and  great  Decency — and  the  Lord  help 
this  People  to  go  on  Regularly  in  all  their  concerns — 

Sab:  Nov""  6:  Brother  Jacob  Fowler  and  I  went  of  early  in  the  Mor^for 
Stockbridge  Indians,  that  lately  settled  at  old  Onoyda.  got  there  some 
Time  before  meeting.  Went  to  Sir  Peter  Pauquunnuppeets  House,  he  is 
a  Collegian  brought  up  and  Educated  at  Dartmouth  College,  and  he 
received  [us]  with  all  kindnest  Friendship, — about  11  went  to  meeting  and 

2  The  following  is  Occom's  marriage  service :  "  You  do  take  this  woman  to  be  your 
Married  Wife  and  do  in  the  Presence  of  God  and  before  these  witnesses  Promise  and 
covenant  to  be  a  loving  and  faithful  Husband  unto  her  until  God  shall  separate  you 
by  death.  You  do  in  like  manner  take  this  man  to  be  your  Married  Husband  and  do 
in  the  Presence  of  God  and  before  these  Witnesses  Promise  to  be  a  loving,  faithful 
and  obedient  wife  unto  him  till  God  shall  separate  you  by  Death.  I  do  then  before 
God  and  these  witnesses  Declare  you  to  be  Husband  and  Wife.  Therefore  what 
God  has  joined  together  let  not  man  put  asunder." 


252  SAJfSOJV  OCCOM 

many  of  our  People  from  our  new  settlements  came  to  meeting,  to  the  dis- 
tance of  six  miles  —  I  spoke  to  them  from  Joshua  24 :  22  :  and  Esther  7:2: 
in  the  Evening  we  had  another  meeting,  and  we  had  solemn  Day  and  even- 
ing, the  People  attended  with  great  attention  and  Solemnity,  after  I  had 
done  speaking,  we  sat  down  and  the  singer  rose  up  and  they  sang  Some 
Time,  and  then  dispersed,  every  one  to  his  quarters  and  Sister  Hannah  and 
Sister  Esther  and  I  Lodgd  at  Widow  Quinnys  where  the  meeting  was  — 

Monday  Nov''  7  :  Some  Time  after  Sun  Rise  I  sot  of  with  Brother  Roger 
and  his  wife  to  our  Place ;  and  stopt  at  Roger's  and  I  took  Breakfast  with 
them,  they  live  near  three  miles  from  the  rest  of  the  People,  and  after  eating 
I  went  on  to  the  Town,  got  there  about  12  and  found  them  all  well — In  the 
Evening  we  met  on  our  Temporal  and  Religious  concerns — we  met  once 
before  but  we  did  not  come  to  proceed  any  Business — But  now  we  pro- 
ceeded to  form  into  a  Body  Politick — we  Named  our  Town  by  the  Name  of 
Brotherton,  in  Indian  Eeyamquittoowauconnuck — J.  Fowler  was  chosen 
Clarke  for  the  Town.  Roger  Waupieh,  David  Fowler,  Elijah  Wympy, 
John  Tuhy,  and  Abraham  Simon  were  chosen  a  Committee  or  Trustees  for 
the  Town,  for  a  year  and  for  the  future,  the  committee  is  to  be  chosen 
Annually.'— and  Andrew  Acorrocomb  and  Thomas  Putchauker  were  chosen 
to  be  Fence  Vewers  to  continue  a  year.  Concluded  to  have  a  Centre  near 
David  Fowlers  House,  the  main  St*reet  is  to  run  North  and  South  & 
East  and  West,  to  cross  at  the  centre.  Concluded  to  live  in  Peace,  and  in 
Friendship  and  to  go  on  in  all  their  Public  Concerns  in  Harmony  both  in 
their  Religious  and  Temporal  concerns,  and  every  one  to  bear  his  part  of 
Public  Charges  in  the  Town.— They  desired  me  to  be  a  Teacher  amongst 
them.  I  consented  to  spend  some  of  my  remaining  [days]  with  them,  and 
make  this  Town  my  Home  and  center — 

Tuesday  Novr  8 :  got  up  early  and  sot  of  for  Stockbridge  Indians,  got 
there  Some  Time  before  meeting,  this  is  a  Day  of  fasting  and  Prayer  with 
the  People  here  and  they  desired  me  to  assist  them,  the  Design  of  this 
fast  is  to  confess  their  sins  before  God,  and  to  repent  and  beg  the  Pardon 
of  all  their  sins  and  desire  the  Blessing  of  God  upon  them,  and  to  Prosper 
them  in  their  New  Settlement,  and  also  bless  them  in  their  Religious  Life — 
and  I  preached  to  them,  in  the  fore  Noon  from  Jonah  3:8:  in  the  after- 
noon from  Prover  23 :  26  and  it  was  a  solemn  Fast  Day,  many  were  deeply 
afected,  all  attended  like  criminals  before  the  Barr:  in  the  F2vening  they 
met  again  and  they  advised  and  gave  councel  to  one  another  to  conduct  well 
and  be  careful  in  all  their  conduct  the  ensuing  winter  as  they  were  about  to 
disperse  for  the  winter,  that  they  may  get  together  in  the  spring  in  Love  and 
Peace — and  after  advice,  they  spent  Some  Time  in  Singing  of  Spiritual 
Songs,  and  when  they  had  done,  I  gave  them  a  word  of  Exhortation,  advis- 
ing them  to  use  their  Natural  Powers  and  conduct  as  becomes  Rational 


THE   MISSIOMARY  OF   THE   WILDERNESS  253 

Creatures,  and  break  off  from  all  outbreaking  of  sin,  and  especially  to  break 
off  from  that  abominable  sin  of  Drunkeness  and  give  themselves  to  watch- 
ing and  Prayer,  and  so  conclude  with  Prayer, — and  the  People  dispersed  in 
Peace.     I  Lodged  at  Sir  Peter  Punquunnuppeets. 

Wednesday  Nov^  9  :  Breakfasted  with  Cap^  Hindreck  &  soon  after  Eating 
I  sot  off  for  Home,  got  to  our  Place  about  12  and  found  our  Folks  well — 

Thirdsday  Fryday  and  Saturday  look  about  a  little  to  see  the  land  and  it  is 
the  best  land  I  ever  did  see  in  all  my  Travils.  John  Tuhy  Planted  Just 
about  one  acre  of  ground,  which  he  cleared  last  ma}',  and  this  Fall  he  took 
of  20  Bushels  of  good  Corn,  56  Bushels  of  Potatoes,  about  200  Heads  of 
Cabage,  and  about  3  Bushels  of  Beans,  and  about  2  Bushels  of  Pusnips  and 
Beats  together,  besides  Cucumbers  and  Watermelons,  of  the  Same  ground, 
and  it  was  not  Plowd  nor  dug  up  with  a  Hoe,  only  leaves  and  Small  Bushes 
were  burnt  on  it  and  great  many  Logs  lay  on  it  now — and  I  was  told  last 
week  among  the  Stockbridge  Indians  that  in  their  clearing  some  spots  of 
land  where  it  has  been  improved  in  years  past,  they  Plowed  up  and  dug  up 
good  many  Potatoes,  where  they  had  been  Planted  perhaps  10  or  12  years 
ago.  One  man  got  3  skipples  and  he  planted  them,  and  he  has  raised  a 
fine  passel  of  them,  and  Brother  David  Fowler  told  me,  and  his  wife  and 
others  confirm'd  it,  that  he  had  one  Cabage  Stomp  stood  three  summers 
and  it  headed  every  year,  the  last  it  stood,  it  [had]  three  Heads. — 

Sab.  Nov'  13  :  Preachd  at  David  Fowlers  and  many  of  the  Stockbridgers 
came  to  meeting,  and  there  was  good  attention  and  I  believe  some  felt  the 
Power  of  the  word, — in  the  evening  we  had  some  singing — 

Monday  Nov''  14:  Was  geting  ready  to  return  homeward. 

Tuesday  Nov'"  15:  got  up  very  early  in  the  morning,  and  we  were  fitting 
to  go  off,  and  little  after  sunrise  we  sot  off.  Brother  David  and  his  wife. 
Daughter,  and  James  W^aucus  went  together.  Elijah  Wympys  two  Daugh. 
ters  and  others — some  Stockbridgers  there  were  Eight  Horses  of  [off] 
amongst  us,  and  many  foot  men  and  we  got  thro  the  woods  just  as  the  Sun 
was  going  down.     I  put  up  at  M""  Fols's — 

The  reader  will  note  in  this  portion  of  Occom's  Diary  the 
record  of  some  important  events.  Here  is  the  account  of  the 
founding  of  Brothertown,  November  7,  1785,  and  their  organi- 
zation into  a  ''Body  Politick.''  Here  are  the  names  of  the 
most  prominent  Indians  of  the  tribe.  Here  the  early  location 
of  the  center  of  their  town  is  stated  to  have  been  near  David 
Fowler's  house.  We  have,  also,  the  name  of  this  unique  town 
in  the  Indian  language,  as  Occom  wrote  it — Eeyamquittoowau- 
connuck.     On  the  eighth  of  November  we  note  the  Fast  Day 


254 


SAMSON  OCCOM 


of  the  Stockbridge  Indians — who  were  then  six  miles  westward 
from  David  Fowler's  house — and  its  solemn  import,  a  day  of 
prayer  for  God's  blessing  on  their  new  town.  Here  we  meet 
again  with  "  Sir  Peter  "  and  "  Capt.  Hindreck,"  who  became 
Occom's  firm  friends.  It  seems  that  these  Indians  of  New 
Stockbridge  were  to  disperse  for  the  winter.  Some,  indeed, 
of  both  tribes  tarried  in  the  settlements  along  the  Mohawk 
until  the  following  spring.  Here  already  we  see  how  it  hap- 
pened that  Occom  ministered  to  a  church  composed  of  both 
tribes.  The  Stockbridge  missionary,  John  Sergeant,  had  not 
come  with  his  people ;  they  were  as  sheep  without  a  shepherd. 
We  shall  have  occasion  to  refer  to  these  points  again. 

Occom's  journey  homeward  was  another  missionary  tour. 
He  had  an  acquaintance  along  the  road.  The  following  are 
some  of  his  lodging-places :  Esquire  Waubret's ;  Captain 
Foof 's  [?] ;  Esquire  Kimball's  at  Bowmen's  Creek  ;  Peter  Van 
Wormer's,  a  mile  from  Mohawk  river,  where  he  met  Mr. 
Romine,  a  Dutch  minister;  Mr.  Otis'  in  Gallaway;  Mr. 
Smith's,  where  he  met  Mr.  Coffin,  a  Universalist  preacher, 
with  whom  he  "  disagreed  altogether  without  debate  " ;  Mr. 
Kalley's,  where  he  married  Jonathan  Bunyan  Cotes  and  Polly 
Doulin  ;  Mrs.  Post's,  near  Schenectady;  Mr.  Holms";  Balls- 
town,  where  he  baptized  Theophilus  Hide,  a  dying  man,  and 
married  Sanford  White  and  Hannah  Hide  ;  Pittstown  ;  Hoo- 
suck,  at  Mr.  Porter's ;  Williamstown  ;  Richmond ;  and  so  to 
the  house  of  Mr.  Sergeant  at  Stockbridge.  That  w^inter  he 
was  at  Mohegan,  engaged  in  his  work  here  and  there.  The 
volume  of  his  diary  is  missing  which  describes  his  return  in 
the  spring  of  1786  to  Oneida.  We  find  him  on  his  way  at  Fort 
Hunter  on  the  twenty-sixth  of  June,  and  at  German  Flats  on 
the  fourth  of  July. 

Tuesday  July  4,  [1786]  Went  to  see  my  folks  at  Mi"  Tygut's  and 

Wednesday  was  there  yet. — 

Thirdsday  July  6  in  the  morning  Some  Time  we  sot  of  to  go  thro  the 


THE  MISSIONARY  OF  THE   WIIDERNESS  255 

Woods,  near  12  we  reached  at  Chunangusde.  we  turned  out  our  Horses 
and  my  mare  run  away  and  we  were  obligd  to  stay  there  all  Night,  we 
could  not  find  her — 

Fryday  July  7  :  we  went  of  prety  early,  and  got  to  our  Settlement  Some 
Time  in  the  afternoon,  and  we  were  glad  to  see  one  another,  but  many  of 
our  People  were  gone  away  to  seek  after  provisions,  for  food  is  very 
scarce — 

Saturday  July  8:  Anthony  and  James  Fowler  Waucus  went  after  my 
mare — 

Sabb.  July  9  :  we  met  together  at  Abraham  Simon's.  There  was  but  few 
of  our  folks  and  good  many  Stockbridgers  were  with  us.  I  spoke  from 
Rom  viii  and  there  was  good  attention  amongst  the  People — 

Monday  July  10:  In  the  evening  Anthony  and  James  came  back  without 
my  mare.  They  found  her  in  a  mire.  Dead,  Sunk  almost  all  over,  there  is 
the  end  of  her — 

Fryday  July  14  Andrew  Corricomb  had  a  son  Born. 

Sabb  July  16,  Preachd  at  Brother  David  Fowler's.  Spoke  from  Matt, 
Jesus  Cried  and  from  Romans,  if  god  be  for  us  &c  most  of  our  People  were 
there  and  a  great  number  of  Stocbredgers,  and  there  was  great  and  solemn 
attention — 

Sabb  July  23  went  from  Roger  Wauby's  to  the  Town  of  Stockbridgers, 
and  many  of  our  People  went  and  we  had  a  large  Assembly.  M''  Dean^  and 
four  with  him  came  to  meeting  they  live  about  six  miles  of,  and  I  spoke 
from  Matt  vi :  9  :  and  Psalm  133:  i,and  the  People  attended  well,  we  had 
a  shower  just  as  meeting  was  concluded  and  we  sot  till  it  was  over  and  that 
was  soon,  and  then  we  pusht  on  homeward.  I  got  [to]  Jacob  Fowler's 
about  sun  set,  and  I  was  some  what  woried — 

Sabb  July  the  30  About  9  I  went  to  Brother  Davids  &  there  I  preachd, 

8  James  Dean  of  "  Dean's  Patent  " — the  best  Indian  interpreter  of  his  day  and  con- 
spicuous in  all  treaties.  His  life  in  detail  would  make  an  interesting  volume.  He 
was  the  son  of  John  and  Sarah  (Douglass)  Dean,  and  was  born  in  Groton,  Conn., 
Aug.  20, 1748.  It  is  said  that  his  parents  devoted  him  to  the  life  of  a  missionary,  and 
when  he  was  nine  years  old  sent  him,  with  an  uncle,  to  reside  at  Onohoquaga.  He 
there  lived  with  "  Good  Peter,"  probably,  and  became  a  master  of  several  Indian 
languages.  In  September,  1762,  he  was  brought  home  by  Rev.  Eli  Forbes,  and  sub- 
sequently engaged  as  an  interpreter  for  Mr.  Moseley.  He  entered  Dartmouth  Col- 
lege, and  graduated  in  1773.  Thereafter,  until  1775,  he  was  employed  by  Doctor 
Wheelock,  but  then  went  into  the  government  service,  among  the  New  York  tribes. 
After  the  war,  he  took  up  his  residence  in  the  Oneida  country,  became  a  distinguished 
citizen,  and  died  at  Westmoreland,  N.  Y.,  Sept.  10,  1823. — Chapman's  ^/«w«z  c?/ 
Dart  Coll.,  p.  14 ;  Chase's  Hist,  of  Dart.  Coll.,  p.  ^"j  ;  Jones'  Annals  of  Oneida 
County,  Sprague's  Annals,  1,493,494;  Wheeloek  Papers  and  MS.^  Rec.  Soc.for 
Prop.  Cos. 


256  SA/l/SOiV  OCCOM 

and  many  of  the  Stockbtidgeis  were  there  and  four  young  Onoyda  men 
were  there,  and  were  drest  compleat  in  Indian  way.  they  shined  with 
Silver,  they  had  large  Clasps  about  their  arms,  one  had  two  Jewels  in  his 
Nose,  and  had  a  large  Silver  half  moon  on  his  Breast;  and  Bells  about 
their  Legs,  &  their  heads  were  powderd  up  quite  stiff  with  red  paint,  and 
one  of  them  was  white  as  any  white  man  and  gray  eyes,  his  appearance 
made  me  think  of  the  old  Britains  in  their  Heathenism.  I  spoke  from 
Hosea  xiii  :  9:  &  Eclesi  xii.  i  and  there  was  great  attention  among  the 
people,  after  meeting  the  singers  sung  some  Time  and  then  we  all  dis- 
persd — 

Monday  JulyV3i  a  number  of  us  went  to  the  Flats,  we  got  there  before 
night  and  I  put  "up  at  M'"  Conrod  Fols.    Tuesday  was  at  the  place  all  Day — 

Wednesday,  Augst  2  Sun  about  two  hours  high  we  sot  [off]  again  for 
home,  and  we  got  home  just  about  Sundown,  all  well,  and  found  our  Folks 
well.     Thanks  be  to  god. — 

Sabb.  Augt  6.  Preached  at  Jacob  Fowlers  in  fore  Noon,  and  there  was 
but  few  People,  it  was  rainy  morning.  In  the  after  Noon  we  went  to  David 
Fowlers,  and  there  was  a  large  number  of  People.  Several  of  the  Stock- 
bridgers  came.  I  spoke  from  Rom  11  .28.  29:  &  Luke  xvi.  13 — and  the 
People  attended  well,     in  the  evening  I  returned  again  to  Brother  Jacob. — 

Tuesday  Aug'  8 :  Some  Time  in  the  morning  I  went  to  Fishing  at  Orisco 
Creek,  and  I  catchd  5  Doz"  and  five  Salmon  Trouts, — and  Just  at  Night  I 
removd  to  Brother  David  Fowler's  to  Stay  a  while. — 

Saturday  Aug'  12  In  the  after  Noon  I  Sot  out  for  Stockbridgers,  stopt 
awhile  at  Roger  Waubys  took  Dinner  there,  and  after  eating,  went  on,  got 
to  the  Place  Some  Time  before  Night.  Lodged  at  Sir  Peter  Paukqunup- 
peat. — 

Sabb.  Aug'  13:  About  10  we  began  the  holy  Exercise  at  the  House  of 
Jacob  Cunkcuppot,  and  there  a  large  collection  of  People,  some  white 
people, — I  spoke  from  Jerem  xxx  14.  in  the  after  noon  from  Luke  x.  42 
and  the  People  attended  with  great  solemnity,  and  with  some  affection  ; 
and  it  was  a  Rainy  afternoon.     I  Lodgd  again  at  Sir  Peters. — 

Monday  Aug'  14:  got  up  very  early,  and  sot  of  for  Brotherton, — Stopt  at 
Roger  Waubys,  and  took  Breakfast  and  soon  after  eatg  I  went  on  again  : 
got  at  Brother  Davids  abot  10 :  &  found  them  all  well — 

Wednesday  Aug'  16:  Towards  Night,  the  Young  People  came  together 
at  Jacob  Fowlers  to  receive  Instruction ;  and  I  gave  them  a  Short  Dis- 
course from  Proverbs  iv.  13:  and  they  attended  exceeding  well,  they 
behaved  becomingly,  and  were  Solemn,  and  there  was  Some  affection,  with 
Tears,  after  I  had  Spoke  and  Prayd  I  orderd  them  to  sing,  and  they  sung 
three  Times,  with  great  Decency  and  solemnity,  and  as  they  were  going 
out,  Elyjah  Wimpy  first  gave  me  thanks,  and  all  manifested  thankfulness; 


THE   MISSIONARY  QF   THE    WILDERNESS  257 

The  Lord  Bless  them,  and  give  them  teachable  Hearts,  that  they  be  Wise 
unto  eternal  salva[tion]. 

Sabb  Aug'  20:  Went  to  David  Fowlers  Some  what  early,  and  about  10 
began  the  Holy  Service,  and  there  was  a  large  Number  of  People  many 
Stockbridgers  came  and  there  were  four  out  of  M''  Deans  Family,  and 
more  whatman, — I  Spoke  from  Luke  ii:  10:  11  and  Psalm  xxxi :  i  and 
there  was  great  and  solemn  attention  in  the  Assembly;  after  meeting  our 
People  Stay'd  Some  and  [sung]  Psalms — near  sun  set  I  went  down  to 
Brother  Jacobs,  and  to  bed  soon  and  rested  quietly  once  more — 

Wednesday  Aug*  23  Towards  Night  the  Young  People  came  to  Jacob 
Fowlers  to  receive  instruction;  and  I  spoke  to  them  from  Prover*^ [blank]  a 
little  whi[le]  and  then  we  Prayd,  and  after  Prayer  I  Exercised  with  my 
Christian  Cards  with  them,*  and  they  were  agreable  to  them,  and  they 
[were]  Awd  with  the  Various  Texts  of  Scripture,  and  I  believe  they  will 
not  forget  the  evening  very  soon,  there  was  one  Stockbridge  Girl  came  on 
purpose,  and  there  was  one  English  Girl,  and  they  also  chose  each  of  'em  a 
Text;  and  they  concluded  with  singing  several  Tunes,  and  the  whole  was 
caried  on  with  Decency,  «&  Solemnity — 

Sabb.  Aug'  27  Had  a  meeting  at  Abraham  Simons  on  acount  of  his  wife's 
Sickness;  he  was  not  at  Home,  he  has  been  gone  five  weeks  tomorrow. — 
There  was  a  great  Number  of  People,  a  number  of  Stockbridgers  was  there, 
and  tow  white  Men  from  the  New  Town.  I  spoke  from  Gene.  xxii.  12 
and  in  the  after  Noon  from  John  iii.  16  &  I  believe  we  had  the  Presence 
of  God  with  us,  there  was  uncommon  attention,  and  great  solemnity  and 
many  Tears  flowd  down  the  cheeks  of  many  ;  after  meeting  a  Number  of 
Singers  went  to  Jacob  Fowlers  and  sung  a  while,  and  then  we  Prayd  &  so 
every  one  went  Home  Soberly  &  quietly — 

Wednesday  Aug'  30  Soon  after  Breakfast  thirteen  of  us  sot  out  into  the 
Woods,  they  went  after  Ginshang  Roots,  and  I  was  going  to  M''  James 
Dean's,  we  travild  together  about  3  Miles,  and  there  they  incamped  made 
up  great  Fire,  and  soon  after  I  went  on.  sister  Hannah  Fowler  went  with 
me,  and  then  we  went  thro'  a  Hedious  Wilderness  for  three  or  four  miles, 
we  had  only  markd  Trees  to  go  by,  and  there  was  but  very  poor  Track — we 
arrivd  to  M'"  Deans  Some  time  in  -the  afternoon,  found  them  all  well,  and 
we  were  receivd  with  all  kindness,  and  at  sundown  Brother  David  came 
runing  in  pufing  and  Blowing  and  all  of  a  fome  with  sweat,  he  had  treed  a 
couple  of  Racoons  and  he  [came]  for  a  gun,  and  went  right  back  and  one 
young  man  ;  and  some  Time  in  the  [evenmg]  he  came  in  with  one  Racoon — 

Thirdsday  Aug'  31  about  11,  we  took  leave  of  the  Fa[mily]  and  went  to 
New  Stockbridge — got  there  some  Time  in  the  afternoon,  we  calld  on  Sir 
Peter  Pankquunnupeat  &  I  put  up  there, — 

Fryday  Sep''  i  :  Some  Time  in  the  after  noon  we  had  a  meeting,  and  I 
18 


258  SAMSO.V  OCCOM 

spoke  from  Psalm,  32 :  9  and  there  was  very  good  attention — I[n]  the  even- 
ing they  got  together  to  sing,  and  after  singing,  we  had  exercise  with  Chris- 
tian Cards,  and  it  was  new  [to]  them  and  very  agreable.  they  attended 
with  great  solemnity,  but  all  did  not  Draw  that  intended  to  draw,  it  grew 
late,  and  so  we  broak  up. — 

Saturday  Sep*"  2  :  I  was  at  the  Place  all  Day  long.  I  visited  some  Fami- 
lies, as  I  did  yesterday,  in  the  evening  we  met  together  again  to  go  thro'  the 
Exercise  we  began  the  last  Night  with  my  Christian  Cards,  and  it  was  very 
agreable.     some  were  much  affected,  we  concluded  with  singing  a  Psalm  — 

Sabb  :  Sep'"  3.  About  10  we  began  the  Divine  worship  of  god  and  there 
was  a  great  number  of  People  for  this  wilderness,  some  white  People — 
I  spoke  from  Matt  xi.  12  and  I  Kings  xix.  13  and  I  be[Iieve]  the  Lord  was 
present  with  us.  I  [had]  some  sense  of  the  great  things  I  [was]  delivering 
and  I  believe  many  felt  the  Power  of  the  word;  for  there  was  great  solem- 
nity, and  Awful  Atention  thro  the  Asembly,  many  Tears  iiowd  from  many 
Eyes. — as  soon  as  the  meeting  was  done  I  went  Home  with  our  People,  we 
got  Home  Just  before  sun  set;  and  our  singer^  got  together  and  they  sung 
some  Time,  we  had  some  newcomers  at  the  singing  meeting. — Last  Satui- 
day  13:  of  our  People  came  to  our  Place  to  settle,  a  Family  from  Mohegan 
&  a  Family  from  Montauk  and  some  from  Narroganset  and  one  from 
Farmington — 

Wednesday  Sepr6:  towards  Night  I  attended  upon  our  Young  People, 
and  ten  Stockbridgers  came  to  the  meeting  old  and  Young,  and  many  of  our 
old  People  came  too.  We  began  with  singing,  and  then  Prayd,  after  Prayer 
the  Young  People  rehearsed  the  Texts  and  Verses  they  had  Chosen  at  our 
second  meeting,  and  they  were  very  Solemn,  and  when  they  had  done  I 
1)egan  a  Discourse  with  them,  from  I  Timothy,  vi.  19  and  it  was  a  solemn 
Time  with  the  People,  many  weremuch  affected.  Concluded  with  Prayer 
and  Singing. — 

Sabb  Sep''  10  In  the  morning  we  went  [to]  Abraham  Simons  to  meeting, 
began  about  10  and  there  was  a  great  number  of  People,  many  from  Stock- 
bridge,  and  we  had  to  white  men  at  the  meeting,  they  were  going  to  Niegara 
from  Johns  Town,  and  there  was  a  solemn  attention  thro'  the  Assembly.  I 
spoke  from  Matt,  ix,  12.  In  the  after  noon  we  went  to  David  Fowlers,  and 
I  Spoke  from  Job  xxi.  14,  15  and  there  was  greater  attention  many  affected 
deeply,  after  meeting  the  singers  stopt  and  sung  Some  Time  and  concluded 
with  Prayer  and  so  we  parted — 

Monday  Sep'"  11.  I  went  down  to  the  German  Flats.  Young  Elijah 
Wympy&  I  went  together:  we  got  thro  Just  before  sun  set,  and  I  put  up 
at  my  good  Friends  M''  Conrod  Fols,  was  some  woried  and  went  to  bed 
soon  but  had  uncomfortable  Nt  of  it  there  were  so  many  vir" 

Tuesday  Sep''  12.     got  up  very  early,  and  it  was  very  Lowery  and  so  did 


THE   MISSIONARY  OF   THE    WILDERNESS 


259 


not  set  out  so  soon  as  I  intended,  took  Breakfast,  and  about  10  I  sot  out 
for  Springfield,  and  just  before  I  got  to  the  Place  I  mist  my  way.  got  to 
south  west  of  the  Place  [a]  good  ways  and  towards  Night  it  began  to  be 
sc^verry,  and  just  at  Night,  I  calld  at  a  certain  House,  to  as[k]  the  way, 
and  it  began  to  rain,  and  asked  me  whether  I  Might  stay  there  and  I 
thanked  him  told  [him]  I  wou'd  and  so  I  stayd ;  tooke  supper  with  them — 
and  went  to  bed  soon,  and  had  comfortable  rest — 

Wednesday  Sep'"  13  Got  up  very  early  and  got  ready  and  they  would 
have  me  stay  to  take  Breakfast  with  them  but  I  told  them  I  wou'd  take  it 
another  Time. — The  man's  Name  is  M''  Nicholas  Lowe,  they  were  very 
kind  to  me.  the  man  had  heard  me  at  New  York  above  20  years  back.  So 
tooke  good  leave  of  them  and  went  on  my  way.  got  to  the  Place  about  9 
and  call'd  on  M'"  Winters  but  they  were  not  at  Home,  the  Women  were  at 
Home,  and  they  got  me  Breakfast,  they  were  exceeding  kind. — and  from 
thence  I  went  to  M'"  Griffins,  and  was  there  till  near  sun  sit,  and  then  I  went 
to  M''  Stansel's,  where  a  meeting  was  apointed,  and  there  was  a  large  Num- 
ber of  People  collected  together,  and  I  spoke  from  Rom.  ii.  28-29:  and  the 
People  attended  with  all  gravity  and  [I]  believe  some  felt  the  Power  and 
Love  of  God. — T  stayd  at  the  same  House,  it  is  a  Dutch  Family  and  there 
is  one  young  man  in  this  House,  Very  Remarkable  in  Religion,  he  is  a  living 
christian.  I  believe  is  not  ashamed  of  his  Lord  and  Master,  he  was  con- 
verted last  Winter,  and  he  is  much  opposed  by  the  most  of  the  Family. 
Yet  he  keeps  on — he  and  I  Lodgd  together  this  night,  after  we  had  a  Song 
conversation  in  the  Family ;  I  was  Treated  well  by  the  whole  Family. 
Rested  comfortably — 

Thirdsday  Sep''  14  and  Fry'^  was  at  the  place,  went  to  see  some  Families. 
Lodgd  once  at  M''  Dicks  and  once  at  M'"  Crippins — 

Saturday  Sep'"  16:  Just  after  Dinner  we  went  to  one  M'' Nicholas 
Pickards  where  the  Christian  People  were  to  have  a  Conference  meeting, 
the  People  collected  Some  Time  in  the  after  Noon,  and  they  began  by 
Prayer  and  sung,  and  they  began  to  relate  their  Experiences,  and  there  were 
12  men  and  three  women,  that  related  the  work  of  god  on  their  souls  and  it 
took  them  till  near  Mid  Night,  and  it  was  the  most  agreable  meeting  that 
ever  I  was  at.  there  were  several  Nations  and  Denominations  &  yet  all 
harmonious,  there  was  no  Jar  amongst  them,  but  Peace  and  Love,  there 
experiences  were  acording  to  the  Doctrines  of  the  Gospel. — I  Lodgd  at  the 
same  House  &  was  very  kindly  entertained,  the  man  is  a  Dutchman  &  his 
[wife]  is  Ireish  woman,  and  both  I  believe  were  sincere  Christians — 

Sabb  Sep"'  17  :  Near  10  we  went  to  meeting  at  old  M'"  Pickards  in  his  New 
House  only  coverd  over  head,  and  there  was  a  Prodigious  Number  of  Peo- 
ple and  I  spoke  from  Acts  xi.  26.  in  the  after  Noon  from  the  last  Psa  and 
the  last  verse — after  meetg  went  to   Deacon  Childs,  and  in   the  Evening  a 


26o  SAMSOA'    OCCOM 

number  of  young  People  came  to  the  House  to  receive  Instruction,  and  I 
spoke  to  them  from  some  passages  of  Scripture,  and  after  that  we  had 
Exercise  with  my  Notes,  and  there  was  great  solemnity  amongst  them,  they 
were  most  all  Dutch  People  they  stayd  late — 

Monday  Sep'"  iS:  It  was  a  Rainy  Day,  and  I  did  not  sit  out.  towards 
Night  I  went  to  M'"  Pickards  from  M-"  Crippens.  M'"  Nicholas  Pickard 
went  with  me,  the  old  gentleman  and  his  wife  received  me  with  all  kindness, 
and  in  the  evening  the  Young  People  came  together  again  for  Instruction, 
and  I  spoke  to  them  the  words  Remember  thy  Creator  &c  and  after  that  we 
had  Exercise  with  my  cards  again,  and  the  People  were  much  solemnised. 
We  sot  up  somewhat  late  again.     I  rested  comfortably  once  more — 

Tusday  Sep'"  19:  Got  up  early,  and  got  Breakfast  and  then  sot  off,  and 
got  to  M'"  Fols  just  after  sun  set.     went  to  Bed  soon — 

Wednesday  Sep'"  20  sot  of  Some  What  early,  old  E.  Wimpy  went 
with  me  and  we  got  thro  before  Night,  we  overtook  a  num[berj  of  Stock- 
bridgers  just  come  from  there  old  settlement,     found  our  Folks  well — 

Sabb  Sep'"  24  Had  a  meeting  in  David  Fowlers  Barn,  and  there  was  a 
large  number  of  People  collected,  great  many  from  old  Town, — the  bigest 
Assembly  we  have  had  since  I  came  to  this  Place.  I  spoke  from  I  Corin 
vii  29.  30.  31  :  &  Acts  xvi.  28,  and  I  believe  we  had  the  presence  of  god 
with  us.  many  were  deeply  affected  there  was  flow  of  Tears  from  many 
Eyes, — in  the  evening  the  singers  went  to  Jacob  Fowlers  to  sing,  and  I 
went  there  too,  and  they  sung  near  two  Hours  and  then  [I]  gave  them  a 
word  of  Exhortation  and  prayd,  and  things  were  done  decently  and  in  order, 
and  so  we  parted  once  more  in  Peace  and  Love.  I  went  backe  to  Brother 
Davids  and  soon  went  to  bed  quietly  once  more.     The  Lord  be  Praised — 

Monday  Sep'"  25  Sot  of  about  mid  Day  for  old  Town.  David  went 
with  me  in  order  to  the  Lake  to  Fishing, — Lodgd  at  Widow  Quinnys, — 

Tuesday  Sep'"  26,  I  did  not  feel  well,  and  it  looked  like  for  Storm,  and  so 
we  returnd  backe  got  home  some  time  before  noon — 

Fryday  Sep'"  28  :  in  the  morning  went  to  Stockbridgers,  and  toward  Night 
Preachd  a  Discourse  to  them.  I  spoke  from  Gala  vi.  15  and  there  was 
great  solemnity  in  the  congregation — Lodgd  at  Sir  Peters — 

Sabath,  Octo'  i  :  Had  our  meeting  in  Jacob  Concoppots  and  there  was  a 
Prodigious  large  congregation  for  the  wilderness,  some  white  People — I 
spoke  from  Psalm  58:  15:  in  the  afternoon  from  Ezek  xxxii:  11  and  we 
had  an  Awfull  solemnity  in  the  assembly,  there  was  a  shower  [of]  Tears. 
I  felt  Bowels  of  Compassion  towards  my  poor  Brethren  ;  in  the  Evening 
the  Stockbridgers  met  at  Sir  Peters,  and  they  rehearsed  what  they  heard  in 
the  Day,  and  they  were  Very  Solemn  ;  at  the  end  of  their  rehearsal,  Sir 
Peter  Pohquunnuppeet  made  a  confession  of  his  wanderings  from  God,  and 
Asked  the  Peoples  forgiveness,  and  he  was  very  Solemn,  and  the  People 
received  him  in  their  charity — 


THE  MISSIONARY  OF    THE    WILDERNESS  26 1 

Wednesday  Oct''  4  :  had  a  meeting  with  our  Young  People,  and  there 
was  many  old  People  also, — I  spoke  from  Prover  xxii.  i  and  there  was 
uncommon  attention  amongst  the  People,  Especially  the  Young  People — 

Saturd  morning  Sep'"  [Oct]  6:  after  the  reading  a  chap'"  I  took  notice  of 
some  Passages  and  spoke  to  the  Family,  and  there  was  a  solemn  attention, 
and  then  I  attempted  to  Pray,  and  I  had  an  awful  sense  of  the  Miserable 
situation  of  mankind,  and  the  goodness  of  God  which  melted  down  my  soul 
before  God,  and  there  was  much  affection  in  the  Family. — 

Sabb  Octo'"  7  :  Had  a  meeting  in  Brother  Davids  &  there  was  but  a  little 
number  of  People  by  reason  of  the  uncommon  Floods  in  all  the  creeks,  and 
on  the  Land,  most  of  the  Bridges  were  carried  off,  for  it  had  been  Raining 
several  Days  last  week  ;  and  it  Rains  yet ;  Some  Stockbridgers  came  to 
meeting  for  all  the  dreadful  traviling.  there  [were]  five  women  and  four 
men.  I  spoke  from  I[sa]  xl.  22,  and  I  think  I  had  an  Awful  sense  of  the 
Deplorable  state  of  [the]  sinful  race  of  Adam,  and  some  sense  of  the  great- 
ness and  goodness  of  God,  and  there  was  an  Awful  attention  and  flow  of 
Tears — in  the  afternoon  I  spoke  from  Gene  xxiv.  58 :  and  there  was  again 
a  moving  among  the  People  :  I  hope  they  will  not  soon  forget  the  Day. — In 
the  evening  they  sung  at  Davids,  and  after  singing  I  spoke  to  the  Young 
People  in  particular,  and  they  were  greatly  bowed  down  before  the  word. 
Some  were  d^eeply  affected,  and  it  was  some  [time]  before  we  broak  up  the 
meeting,  and  they  went  home  with  solemnity. — 

Wednesday  Ocf  11  :  towards  Night  had  a  meeting  with  the  Young  Peo- 
ple, and  we  had  Exercise  with  Christian  Cards  out  of  the  old  Testam*  and 
there  was  an  uncommon  affection  amongst  them.  I  believe  there  was 
scarcely  one  but  what  was  some  what  moved,  and  old  People  were  moved 
too. — We  sung  a  little  after  the  Exercise  —  and  so  parted  — 

Sabb  Oct'"  15  Had  a  meeting  in  Brother  David  Fowlers  and  there  was  a 
great  Number  of  People,  and  we  had  a  solemn  Meeting.  I  spoke  from 
Matt  5. 

Monday  Octo'"  16:  a  number  of  us,  I  think  sixteen,  all  men  went  toNew- 
ToYi^n  to  have  a  Treaty  with  the  Oneidas.  We  had  calld  them  to  our  Town 
but  they  chuse  to  have  us  come  to  their  Town,  and  we  drove  one  creature 
to  them  to  kill,  we  got  there  after  sun  sit  went  directly  to  the  Councell 
House,  David  and  I  Lodgd  there,  and  there  rest  were  ordered  elsewhere.  I 
had  but  poor  rest  all  Night,  they  have  too  many  Vermine  for  me  — 

Tuesday  Octo'"  17:  Some  Time  in  the  after  noon,  were  calld  to  appear 
before  the  Councell  and  we  were  permitted  to  speak  for  ourselves, — and  we 
related  the  whole  of  our  transactions  with  them  about  the  Land  they  gave 
us  —  for  they  had  a  notion  to  take  it  back  again  last  summer,  and  only 
allow  one  mile  square  which  we  utterly  refused,  and  we  had  not  got  thro 
that  Day,  and  we  were  dismisst.  in  the  evening  we  all  went  together  in   a 


262  SAMSON  OCCOM 

certain  House  to  sing  and  Pray  together  &  after  prayers  David  and  I  [went] 
Back  to  the  Councell  House  to  Lodge  — 

Wednesday  Octo""  iS  Near  mid  Day  we  were  calld  again  to  the  Coun- 
cell, and  we  resumed  our  relation  and  soon  finishd  and  then  we  went  out, 
and  were  calld  again  soon,  and  they  begun  to  rehearse  [what]  we  had 
deliverd,  and  they  said  it  was  all  good  and  True,  and  then  they  made  a  New 
offer  to  us,  to  live  in  the  same  spot  of  Ground,  but  [not]  to  be  bound  by  any 
Bound,  but  live  at  large  with  them  on  theer  Land,  which  we  refused,  and  we 
told  them  we  chuse  to  [be]  bounded,  and  they  had  bounded  us  allready, 
all  most  all  round,  and  we  wanted  only  to  be  bound  abound  where  we  were, 
and  they  took  it  under  consideration. — 

.Thirdsday  Ocf  19:  We  wer  calld  again,  and,  about  11  o  c:  we  received 
the  News  of  the  Death  of  our  oldest  man  in  our  Town,  old  uncle  Cornelius, 
Dead  the  evening  before,  and  so  we  were  obligd  to  Drop  our  Business,  and 
went  homeward;  I  stopd  at  old  T  [own].     Lodged  at  Sir  Peter  Pohqun  — 

Fryday  Oct»'  20.  I  went  off  early,  to  our  Town  about  10:  Towards 
Night  we  all  [went]  to  the  House  of  mourning,  and  I  deliver  [ed]  a  short 

Discourse  from xxxix.4.5.  and  from  thence  [we]  went  to  the  grove,  and 

we  finished  Buiiing  after  sun  sit  and  I  went  home  — 

Saturday  Oct''  21  :  soon  after  Breakfast,  sot  of  for  old  Town.  Sally 
SResuck  and  I  went  together,  got  there  before  Noon.  I  sot  a  while  in 
Widow  Quinne's  and  then  went  to  Sir  Peters  — and  was  there  a  while,  and 
there  came  a  man,  and  brought  a  Maloncholy  word  concerning  Sally  as  she 
was  returning  and  had  Just  got  out  of  the  Town  the  Mare  got  a  fit  of  kick- 
ing up  her  heels,  and  crowded  up  against  a  fence,  and-she  fell  Backward, 
and  broak  her  right  Arm ;  I  went  directly  to  see  her  and  found  her  in  great 
Misery,  we  Splinted  up  her  arm  and  so  left,  in  the  evening  went  again  to 
see  her,  and  she  was  in  great  Pains,  and  I  tryd  to  bleed  her,  but  I  coud 
not  make  out. 

Sabb  Oct''  22,  at  usual  Time  went  to  meeting  and  our  Folks  had  Just 
come  and  most  of  them  went  back  to  try  to  carry  home  Salley.  the  assem- 
bly was  not  so  large  as  usual  by  reason  of  the  above  mentioned  accident. 
And  I  spoke  from  I  Corn  x,  21,  in  the  after  noon  from  Matt  iii :  11  and 
there  was  most  sole[mn]  attention  thro  the  Day.  I  Baptized  Sir  Peters 
wife  and  child. — In  the  evening  a  Number  of  'em  met  at  Sir  Peters,  and 
there  were  9  :  or  10  manifested  their  exercises  of  mind.  They  never  were  so 
awakend  about  their  souls  affairs  as  they  are  now,  there  never  was  so  many 
men 'brought  to  such  consideration  as  they  are  now.  they  confest  they  have 
been  and  [are]  vile  sinners,  and  determine  by  the  help  of  god  to  turn  from 
their  evel  ways  and  seek  God,  They  say  they  [that]  it  is  by  hearing  me 
Preach  to  them;  one  old  woman  said  she  had  some  thoughts  about  Re- 
ligion, and  was  Baptizd  some  nine  years  ago,  and  she  thought  it  was   well 


THE  MISSIONARY  OF   TI^E    WILDERNESS  263 

enough  with  her  till  she  heard  me.  she  thinks  now  she  never  has  met  with 
anything,  and  she  thinks  it  is  a  gone  case  with  her.  I  gave  her  encourage- 
ment to  press  forward  if  at  eleven  Hour  with  her.  She  may  yet  come  in. 
we  broke  up  and  I  went  to  bed  soon. — 

Monday  Oct"'  23  A  little  past  Noon  four  of  our  men  came  to  old  Town 
on  their  way  to  New  Town,  and  I  sot  of  with  them  directly,  and  we  got 
there  Just  before  sun  sit,  and  the  Councell  was  then  sitting,  and  were 
orderd  to  a  certain  House,  and  in  the  Dusk  of  the  evening  we  were  calld, 
and  after  we  sot  there  good  while  they  read  their  Speech  and  Conclusion, 
and  it  was  if  [we]  did  not  accept  of  their  offer  they  would  take  the  Land 
back  again  and  we  woud  not  accept  of  their  offer,  it  was  [to]  take  the  Land 
at  large  without  any  bounds. — 

Tuesday  Oct^'  24  ;  our  men  went  to  Canaserake  to  Fishing,  and  I  sot  of 
for  home.  Stopt  at  the  old  Town,  and  intended  to  pass  along,  but  they 
desired  me  to  Stay  to  have  a  meeting  in  the  Evening,  and  I  consented  ;  in 
the  evening  they  collected  together  I  believe  most  all  the  old  People,  and 
many  Young  P.  I  Expounded  upon  TI  Corin.  xiii :  11  and  there  was 
deep  attention  with  flow  of  Tears,  after  I  had  done  two  or  three  spoke  in 
their  own  Tongue  reharshing  what  I  had  deliverd,  and  the  Chief  man  asked 
me  as  I  was  about  to  leave  them,  how  they  should  go  on  in  their  religious 
concerns,  and  I  told  them  as  they  were  not  formed  into  Church  State,  they 
shoud  enter  into  Christian  Fellowship  and  put  themselves  under  Watch 
care  of  one  another,  and  cary  on  the  public  Worship  of  god  in  Singing  Pray- 
ing and  reading  of  the  word  of  God,  and  some  Exhortation,  and  some 
Explination  of  the  word  of  God  and  maintain  Family  Worship  constantly — 

Wednesday  Oct'"  25.  Some  Time  in  the  morning  I  left  old  Town  and 
went  to  our  Town,  got  there  a  little  before  noon,  and  found  Davids  Family 
well,  but  one  child  was  unwell,  but  not  very  sicke. 

Saturday  Oct''  28  :  Our  People  pretended  to  have  a  convearence  meeting, 
but  one  man  who  was  most  concernd  in  the  meeting  did  not  come,  and  so 
they  did  nothing,  they  concluded  to  cut  the  Road  thro  to  the  Flats.  Just 
at  Night  two  white  men  came  to  our  Town  from  Spring  Field,  about  forty 
miles  from  here,  they  came  on  purpose  to  give  us  a  Christian  Visit,  we 
expected  them  and  accordingly  they  came,  and  we  were  Glad  to  see  each 
other.  In  the  Evening  we  had  a  meeting,  and  there  were  Some  Stock- 
bridge  Brethren  with  us,  and  there  was  great  moving  and  some  making  [up] 
and  there  was  some  crying  out.     held  the  meeting  late. — 

Sabb.  Octo'29:  Many  Stockbridgers  came  to  meeting,  about  ten  we 
began  the  Exercise,  and  there  was  great  Assembly.  I  spoke  from  Matt 
xxiv:  14:  and  we  had  a  solemn  meeting,  many  were  affected — in  the 
evening  we  had  another  meeting,  and  there  was  great  moving  and  some 
making  up,  and  many  were  affected,  but  I  believe  there  was  more  Natural 


264 


SAA/SO.V  OCCOM 


affection  than  Gracious,  afn  [afternoon]  there  was  considerable  Noise,     we 
were  late  before  we  left  the  Place. — 

Wednesday  Nov'  i,  I  had  a  meeting  w4th  the  Young  Peop[le]  at  David 
Fowlers,  and  they  repeated  the  verses  upon  the  Texts  they  chose  the  last 
Time  they  met,  and  it  was  a  Solemn  Time  with  us,  many  Tears  were  Shed. 
Several  indeed  are  [under]  Deep  Convictions,  and  been  so  for  Some 
Time — 

Saturday  Nov'"  4 :  near  noon  I  sot  of  for  New  Stockbridge.  Stopt  a  while 
at  Brother  Roger  Waubys  and  took  dinner  there,  and  after  eating  past  on- 
got  to  the  Place  towards  Night,  put  up  at  Cap^  Hind[recks].  in  the  Even- 
ing we  had  a  meetg.  I  dropt  a  few  words,  and  many  discoverd  their 
Spiritual  Exercise  and  it  was  a  solemn  Time,  many  confest  and  lamented 
their  past  conduct,  and  determind  to  live  a  Regular  life  in  Time  to 
come  &c — 

Sabb.  Nov  5 :  People  began  to  [be]  collected  together,  and  there  was  a 
great  Number  of  P.  we  began  the  Exercise  about  ten!  I  Spoke  [from] 
Joshua  xxiv:  15,  and  I  believe  the  Lord  acompanied  his  word  by  his 
Divine  Spirit,  the  People  were  Bowd  before  the  word, — after  speaking  I 
Baptized  [Blank],  in  the  Evening  we  met  again.  I  did  not  say  much,  and 
there  was  a  numbgr  again  that  discoverd  their  concern  and  resolutions,  and 
it  was  a  solemn  Season,  and  we  held  the  mg  late.  Lodged  at  Capt  Hin- 
dricks  again — 

Monday  Nov  6:  We  had  another  meeting  quite  early,  and  there  was 
much  affection.  I  Spoke  to  them  about  the  Nature  of  Baptism  very  close, 
and  r  Baptized  [Blank].  Some  Time  towards  noon  I  left  New  Stockbridge. 
Stopt  a  little  while  at  Roger  Waubys  and  so  past  on.  got  to  Brother 
Davids  Some  Time  in  the  after  Noon,— in  the  eving  we  had  a  meeting,  and 
it  was  a  comfortable  meeting  : — 

Tuesday  NoV  7  was  geting  ready  to  return  homeward.  Visited  some 
Families — 

Wednesday  Nov  8.     Visited  again  and  was  busy  geting  ready— 

Thirdsday  Nov  9:  sot  of  early.  Sir  Peter  Puhquennuppeet,  Catty 
Quinney,  Betsey  Fowler  and  Elizy  Corricomb  went  with  me,  and  we  were 
obligd  to  Lodge  in  the  Woods,  we  coud  not  get  thro'  and  it  rain'd  some, 
we  found  a  good  Hutt,  and  made  out  to  make  fire,  and  we  lodged  quite 
comfortable.     I  had  good  rest— 

Fryday  Nov  10:  got  up  some  Time  bsfore  Day,  and  as  soon  as  it  was 
break  a  Day  we  tacled  our  Horses  and  went  on.  we  got  to  M''  Folss  Just 
after  sun  rise,  took  breakfast  at  Mr.  Fols's :  and  about  8  :  we  sot  off 
again.  Stopt  a  little  at  Esq''  Franks,  and  near  12  we  went  on  again.  Got 
to  Spring  Field  some  Time  in  the  Evening.  \^e  put  up  at  Brother  Crip- 
pens  and  we  were  Gladly  receivd  and  we  were  glad  to  see  them— 


THE   MISSIONARY  OF   THE    WILDERNESS  265 

Again  Occom  spent  the  winter  at  Mohegan,  On  the  26th 
of  May,  1787,  he  began  his  next  journey  to  Oneida,  arriving 
at  Fols'  on  the  evening  of  July  first.  Here  he  met  John  Tuhie, 
who  gave  him  intelligence  concerning  the  state  of  his  people. 
Among  other  things  which  he  then  learned  was  that  several  of 
them  had  died  since  he  left.  On  the  fourth  instant,  as  he  was 
preparing  to  journey  through  the  wilderness  to  Brothertown, 
David  Fowler  and  his  wife,  with  "  Sister  Esther,  Brother  Jacob 
Fowlers  widow,"  came  in.  Here,  then,  another  of  Wheelock's 
pupils  drops  out  of  our  story.  The  circumstances  and  exact 
time  of  Jacob  Fowler's  death  are  unknown.  He  probably  died 
shortly  before  Occom's  arrival  in  the  spring  of  1787.  But 
we  know  he  lived  a  worthy  life  to  the  last,  and  died  beloved 
among  his  people.  He  had  done  some  service  to  his  honor 
as  a  schoolmaster  in  the  Oneida  mission,  the  teacher  and 
preacher  at  Mushantuxet,  the  Indian  tutor  at  Dartmouth  Col- 
lege, and  the  faithful  messenger  of  "  Brother  Jonathan  "  during 
the  Revolution.  He  is  doubtless  buried  in  an  unmarked  grave 
in  their  early  cemetery  on  the  hill  at  Brothertown. 

Here  we  resume  the  story  as  told  in  a  volume  of  Occom's 
diary  in  the  Connecticut  Historical  Society : 

Thirsday  Jul.  5  [17S7]  arrivd  here  Yesterday,  this  Day  went  nowhere 
but  kept  at  Christiana  all  Day. — 

Sabb.  July  8 :  about  9  went  to  Brother  Davids,  and  prety  many  People 
collected  together.  Both  Towns  got  together,  and  Some  White  People, 
from  Clenton.  we  began  about  10,  in  Brother  Davids  Barn.  I  Spoke  from 
Mathew  [Blank]  in  the  after  Noon  from  Deuto  x.  and  the  People 
attend[ed]  with  great  solemnity  and  some  affection,  towards  Night  went 
back  to  Daughters  and  Lodged  there. — 

Thirdsday  July  12  :  Some  Time  before  Noon  I  sot  of  from  our  Town, 
and  went  to  New-Stockbridge.  Stopt  a  while  at  Brother  Roger's  and  took 
Dinner  there,  and  soon  after  went  on  again,  got  to  the  Place  about  2,  put 
up  at  Cap*  Hindreck's  and  Lodged,  the  People  were  exceeding  glad  to  see 
me :  but  many  of  them  were  gone  a  fishing  after  Salmon. 

Fryday  July  13:  Some  Time  after  Breakfast  went  to  see  a  woman  that 
had  been  some  Sick.  Peter  Pohquunnuppeet  went  with  me,  and  I  had 
some  conversation  with  her  about  her  eternal  concerns,     she  seemed  to  be 


266  SAMSON  OCCOM 

reseignd.  she  said  she  was  willing  God  should  dispose  of  her  as  he 
Pleases.  Prayed  with  her,  and  then  went  back  to  Cap*  Hindrecks,  and 
towards  Night  went  to  meeting,  and  there  was  but  few  Collected,  and  I 
spoke  to  them  from  xxxiii  Psalm  12  verse,  and  there  was  very  good  at- 
tention, after  I  had  done  speaking  Capt  Hindreck  rehersed  what  he  could 
remember  in  his  own  Tongue  and  he  made  the  last  Prayer  and  so  the  People 
were  dismissed,  and  I  went  home  with  Cap*  Hindreck  and  Lodged  there 
again. 

Saturday  July  14.  Some  [time]  in  the  morning  went  to  see  Joseph  Pye, 
alias  Shauqueathquat,  and  had  very  agreable  conversation  with  him,  his 
wife,  sister  &  another  old  woman  about  their  Heart  Exercises,  and  they 
asked  Some  Questions  and  I  answered  them,  and  after  a  while  I  went  back. 

Sabb  July  15  about  10,  we  began  the  Divine  Service,  &  there  was  a  large 
number  of  People,  many  English  were  with  us.  I  Spoke  from  I  Corin  2:2: 
and  Luke  vii.  48  and  the  People  attended  with  great  solemnity,  and  grav- 
ity, after  meeting  went  back  to  my  lodgings,  and  Just  before  Sunset 
went  to  meeting  again,  and  Capt  Hindreck,  and  Peter  Peet  reharsed  in  the 
Indian  Language,  the  Discourses  I  Deliverd  in  the  Day,  because  many 
old  People  coud  not  readyly  understand  what  Ideliver'd  in  the  English, 
and  in  .the  Evening  went  back  to  Cap*  H^  and  Sir  Peter,  Jo  Queney  and 
John  Quenney  came  to  my  Lodgings  and  they  asked  many  Questions,  and 
we  had  very  agreable  Evenings  Conversation  and  it  was  Rainey  Night. 
went  to  Bed  somewhat  late  and  had  comfortable  repose. 

Monday  July  16.     Went  to  see  several  Families. This  Evening 

after  we  had  got  to  Bed,  sot  up  quite  late  too,  widow  Quenn-ey  Knocked  at 
the  Door,  and  she  just  look'd  in,  and  spoke  &  she  went  back:  and  I  ask'd 
what  was  the  Matter,  and  Cap*  Hindreck  said,  that  Cathrine  Quenney  was 
taken  very  Strangely  at  once,  her  Breath  was  most  gone  all  of  a  Sudden, 
and  Cap*  Hindreck  and  his  wife  got  up  and  went  to  s^e  her,  and  I  lay  still, 
and  told  them,  if  she  continued  so,  let  me  know,  and  the  Cap*  came  back 
directly,  and  desired  me  to  go  over,  and  I  got  up  and  Drest  me  and  went 
over,  and  when  I  got  into  the  House,  I  went  right  to  her  Bed  Side,  and  sot 
down,  she  lay  very  still  only  Breathe  with  struggle,  and  sigh'd  once  in  a 
while  :  and  I  asked  her  whether  she  was  sick  :  she  said  no.  what  then  is 
the  matter  with  you,  and  slie  said,  with  Tears,  I  want  to  Love  God  more, 
and  serve  him  better;  and  I  said  to  her,  if  She  really  Desired  and  asked  for 
it  she  shu'd  have  her  desire  granted,  for  it  was  a  good  Desire,  &  gave  her 
some  further  advice  and  counsel,  and  she  desir'd  me  to  Pray  with  her,  and 
I  asked  her  what  we  shou'd  pray  for.  she  said,  that  she  may  have  more 
Faith,  that  she  might  serve  with  her  whole  Heart  and  so  we  pray'd,  and 
after  that  I  went  back  to  my  lodgings,  and  went  to  bed  again  quietly  and 
had  comfortable  rest. — 


THE  MISSIONARY  OF   THE    WILDERNESS  267 

Tuesday  July  rj  :  Soon  after  Prayers  I  went  over  to  see  Catey  and  she 
was  yet  a  Bed  and  I  asked  how  [she]  did.  She  said  well,  and  asked  how 
her  mind  was.  She  said,  she  found  more  love  and  Peace,  and  she  wanted 
to  serve  God  with  all  [her]  heart.  Said,  she  slept  none  or  but  little  all 
Night,  and  her  Body  felt  very  weak,  but  her  heart  felt  well :  she  desired  me 
to  pray  with  her.  I  asked  her,  what  she  wanted  to  pray  for.  she  said  for 
Wisdom  and  more  Faith  :  and  soon  after  Prayer  I  went  to  my  Quaters, 
and  about  10  my  son  in  Law,  Anthony  Paul  came  to  me  and  little  Jo 
Wauby,  and  we  went  to  the  Lake.  Stopt  a  little  while  at  M'"  Aucut's  and 
were  well  treated,  he  is  from  Connecticut, — and  so  we  past  on.  got  [to] 
CoIqI  Lewee's  Just  after  sun  set,  and  Lodged,  but  I  had  but  small  Portions 
of  sleep.     Flees  Plagued  me  all  Night. 

Wednesday,  July  18:  was  at  Lewees.  We  cou'd  not  find  a  connoo  till 
afternoon,  and  then  we  went  to  the  Lake,  about  3  quaters  of  a  mile,  and 
wee  made  up  a  Fire  where  the  Black  Creek  runs  into  the  New  Town  creek, 
and  there  we  spent  the  Night,  some  Five  in  the  after  [noon]  I  went  to 
Salmon  Creek  near  3  miles,  where  the  Block  House  was  once.  I  had  been 
there  26  years  ago,  there  was  then  a  number  of  sodiers,  but  it  is  all  grown 
up  with  Large  Stadles.  there  I  saw  a  Family  over  the  Creek,  I  suppose 
moving  to  the  West,  but  I  did  not  go  over  to  see  them,  towards  Night 
went  back  to  our  Fire,  and  we  catch'd  some  Fish — we  made  up  great  Fire, 
and  after  a  while  went  to  sleep,  but  I  was  cold. — 

Thirdsday  July  19,  got  up  early  and  Pray'd  and  then  got  some  Victuals 
and  soon  after  we  sot  off  to  go  to  Salmon  Creek,  soon  got  there.  I  rode 
and  the  Boys  went  by  water  in  a  little  Connoo.  We  went  to  fishing,  but 
had  no  Luck,  and  so  went  back  to  our  Fire,  soon  got  there  and  went  to 
fishing  in  the  creek,  and  catch'd  [a]  few  fish.  Just  at  Night,  we  got  ready 
to  return  home :  Lodged  again  at  Colo^  Lewees,  but  I  had  no  comfort,  I  had 
too  many  Bed  Fellows. — 

Fryday  July  20,  got  up  quite  early  and  went  of  soon  :  Stopt  a  while  at 
M^'  Aleuts  in  New  Town,  took  Dinner  there,  soon  after  we  went  on 
again,  got  to  New-Stockbridge  some  [time]  in  the  after  Noon — sun  about 
two  hours  high,  at  Night  we  had  a  meeting,  there  was  not  great  many 
People,  and  I  spoke  to  them  from  [Blank]  and  there  was  good  attention, 
after  meeting  went  to  Bed  soon  and  had  a  comfortable  rest — 

Saturday  July  21.  Lay  a  Bed  somewhat  late,  and  Some  Time  before 
noon  I  left  the  Place,  and  went  to  Brotherton.  Stopt  a  little  while  at 
Brother  Roger  Waubys  and  soon  past  on,  got  to  my  Daughter  Christianas 
some  Time  before  Night :  and  at  Night  went  to  Bed  soon  and  had  good 
rest — 

Sabb  July  22.  about  9  went  to  Brother  Davids  to  meeting,  and  about  10 
began  the  service,  and  there  was  a  large  Assembly.     I  spoke  from  I  Corin 


268  SAMSON  OCCOM 

iii.  II  &  Matt  xxv.  46  and  there  was  uncommon  attention  among  the 
People,  many  were  melted  Down  to  Tears,  some  were  alarm'd.  I  felt  the 
Power  of  God's  word  myself,  after  meeting  went  to  Brother  David's 
House,  for  we  met  in  his  Barn.     Just  at  Night  went  to  my  Daughters. — 

Thirsday  July  26,  towards  Night  I  went  to  Abraham  Simons,  married 
him  to  Sarah  Adams,  they  did  not  make  any  widding  yet  there  was  good 
many  People.     Lodged  there — 

Saturday  July  28.  Some  Time  in  the  morning  David  Fowler  and  his 
wife,  and  I  sot  of  to  go  to  Deans  Ville  [Dean's  Patent],  and  we  went  by 
way  of  Clenton,  got  to  Clenton  Some  Time  in  the  afternoon,  and  it  was  a 
Rainey  Day,  and  very  bad  way,  many  Mirery  holes,  stopt  a  few  minutes  at 
Capt  Foots,  and  so  past  on.  got  to  M'"  James  Dean's  about  sun  set,  and  I 
was  kindly  receiv'd,  and  I  Lodg'd  there.  Brother  David  and  his  Wife  went 
to  M""  Jonathan  Deans  and  Lodged  there. 

Sabb  July  29.  about  9  went  to  M'"  Felps's  to  meetg  and  there  was  con- 
siderable Number  of  People,  and  I  spoke  from  the  words,  he  that  soweth 
to  the  flesh  &c  and  let  the  word  of  Christ  Dwell  in  you  &c,  and  there  was 
very  good  attention,  after  meeting  went  back  to  ]\P  James  Deans,  and 
Lodged  there  again — 

Monday  July  30:  after  Breakfast  we  sot  of  for  Brotherton.  got  home 
about  Noon,  towards  Night  I  went  to  my  Daughters  and  found  them 
well — 

Thirsday  August  2.  towards  Night  I  went  to  Widow  Esther  P'owlers, 
and  we  had  a  mg  [meeting]  there,  and  there  was  not  a  great  Number  of 
People,  our  People  are  much  scattered  on  account  of  the  scarcity  of  Pro- 
visions. I  spoke  from  Luke  ix.  62  and  there  was  an  affectionate  attention 
among  the  People.     I  Lodged  at  the  same  House — 

Saturday.  Aug*  4  :  Went  to  New-Stockbridge,  got  there  before  Night. — I 
put  up  at  Sir  Peter  Pohequenuppeets. 

Sabb.  Aug*  5.  about  10  went  to  meeting,  and  there  was  a  goodly  number 
of  People, — I  Spoke  from  Theol.  3 :  20  and  the  People  attended  well,  the 
People  met  again  toward  Night  and  Cap*  Hindreck  and  Sir  Peter  Rehearsed 
what  I  had  delivered  in  the  Day.  Baptised  2  Children  one  for  Sir  Peter  by 
the  Name  Mary,  and  [the]  other  was  for  Joseph  Quiney  by  the  [name  of] 
Joseph. — 

Monday  Aug'  6.  was  at  the  Place  all  Day. — 

Tuesday  Aug*  7.  Some  Time  in  towards  noon  I  went  to  Brotherton. 
Stopt  a  little  while  at  Rogers  and  10  past  on.  got  to  Brother  David  abt  2  : 
and  was  there  a  little  while,  and  down  the  Hill,  got  to  my  Daughter's  some 
Time  in  the  after  Noon,  found  them  well— 

Thirsday  Aug*  9.  Just  at  Night  went  to  meeting  at  Sister  Esther  Fow- 
lers and  there  was  but  few  People,  it  was  Raney.     I  spoke  from  Matt  xiii, 


THE  MISSIONARY  OF   THE    WILDERNESS  269 

2  &c,  and  there  was  great  solemnity  among  the  People.  I  Lodged  at  the 
Same  House. — 

Sabb  Aug*  12.  went  to  Davids  and  about  10  we  began  the  holy  service 
and  there  was  a  great  Number  of  People  and  I  Spoke  from  Deut  xxxiii.  27 
and  the  People  attended  well.  Lodged  at  Brother  Davids.  Monday  morn- 
ing went  to  my  Daughters. 

Wednesday  Aug^  15=  I  ^^^  ^  Number  of  People  come  to  clear  a  bid  of 
ground  for  me  from  New  Stockbridge  and  from  this  Place — the  Names  of 
the  Stockbridgers,  Cap*  Ilindrick  [Blank] 

Thirdsday  Aug^  16  they  worked  again,  and  they  Laboured  exceeding  well, 
this  is  the  first  Labour  I  ever  had  from  my  Brethren  according  to  the 
P'lesh,  and  it  was  a  Voluntary  offer  and  I  accepted  of  it  thankfully.  I  never 
did  receive  anything  from  my  Indian  Brethren  before.  Now  I  do  it  out  of 
Principle.  It  is  high  Time  that  we  should  begin  to  maintain  ourselves,  and 
to  support  our  Temporal  &  Religious  Concerns,  towards  Night,  we  went 
up  on  the  Hill  and  a  meeting  at  Brother  Davids,  there  was  a  considerable 
of  People  &  I  spoke  from  Psalm  cxix :  97  and  the  word  fell  with  great 
Power,  many  were  deeply  Bowed  down  : — after  I  had  done,  the  People 
sung  some  Time.  I  Lodged  at  Brother  David's  and  many  of  the  Stock- 
bridgers stayd  here  too  and  we  went  to  rest  soon. — 

Fryday  Aug^  17  many  of  the  Stockbridgers  took  Breakfast  at  Davids, 
and  then  they  went  home.  I  soon  went  after  them.  I  got  to  the  Place 
before  Noon  &  put  up  at  Cap*^  Hindricks.  towards  Night  we  had  a  meeting, 
and  there  was  not  many  People,  and  I  Spoke  from  John  xv.  12.  and  we  had 
a  comfortable  meeting,  the  Word  was  weighty  in  the  minds  of  the  People. 
M''  Kirkland  was  present  and  one  M''  Olcut  was  there  also. — 

Saturday,  Aug*  18  in  the  afternoon  towards  N*  the  People  got  together 
&  Cap*  Hindrick  Rehearsed  what  I  deliver'd  the  Day  before,  and  there 
was  a  solemnity  among  the  People — 

Sabb  Aug*  19,  about  10  we  began  the  service  and  there  was  a  large  N*'  of 
People,  and  I  Spoke  from  Deut  xxvi.  16.  17.  18.  19  and  Reval.  xxii.  17 
and  it  was  a  solemn  Day  with  us,  as  soon  as  the  meeting  was  over,  I  had 
my  Horse  got  up  and  I  sot  a  way  for  Brotherton  with  our  People  ;  got 
home  to  Davids  about  sunset  and  there  Lodged — 

Thirdsday  Aug*  23  I  had  6  Stockbridgers  to  help  me  to  clear  Land, — 
and  sun  about  an  Hour  high  we  had  a  meeting  at  Widow  Fowler,  and  there 
was  but  a  small  number  of  People  and  I  spoke  from  Hos  vi :  3  and  there 
was  very  good  attention. — I  Lodged  at  the  Same  House — 

Sabb.  Aug*  26  about  9  went  to  meetiifg  upon  the  Hill  at  Brother  Davids, 
and  about  10  began  the  Divine  worship  and  there  was  a  large  number  of 
People,  &  I  spoke  from  Rom.  i.  16  &  iii.  i.  2:  and  there  was  a  solemn 
attention  amongst  the  People. — at  the  end  of  the   afternoon  sermon,  I  Bap- 


270 


SAJ/SOA'  OCCOM 


tized  my  Son  in  Law  Anthony,  and  my  Daughter  Christiana  owned  her 
Baptism  and  renew[ed]  her  covenant  with  god,  and  I  Baptized  their  chil- 
dren :  their  Names  are,  Samson,  James,  Sarah,  Fhebe— these  were  the  first 
that  were  Baptized  in  this  New  Settlement,  and  I  hope  and  Pray  that  it 
may  be  only  the  beginning  of  multitudes  in  this  Wilderness,  till  the  Whole 
Wilderness  shall  Blossom  as  the  Rose — 

Thirds  Day  Aug'  30  Just  at  Night  went  [to]  Widow  Fowler's  and  had  a 
meeting,  but  there  was  but  very  few  People.  I  spoke  from  the  words,  O 
that  my  People  woud  consider — 

Saturday  Sep""  i  I  went  to  Deansville,  one  1)'"  Petre  went  with  me,  he  is 
a  garman  Doctor,  we  got  there  Some  Time  before  Night,  took  Tea  at 
M""  James  .Dean's,  and  before  sun  set  I  went  to  M'"  J.)na"  Dean's,  and  there 
I  Lodged  and  the  Doctor  Lodged  there  also. 

Sabb.  Sep'"  2.  about  11  we  began  the  worship  of  god,  and  there  was  but  a 
small  number  of  People  and  I  spoke  from  John  xv,  23  &  xiv.  23  and 
People  attended  with  solemnity  all  Day.  Lodged  af  M''  James  Deans 
where  the  meeting  was.  Esq  While  and  I  Lodged  together,  and  had  a 
comfortable  rest — 

Monday  Sep""  3  :  I  got  up  early  and  went  to  M'-  Phelps's  and  there  I  took 
Breakfast.  Some  Time  in  the  morning  went  back  to  M^  James  Deans,  and 
leave  and  went  home,     got  to  Brotherton  about  i  in  the  afternoon. — 

Thirday  Sep^"  6:  towards  Night  went  to  Sister  Esther  Fowlers  and  had  a 
meeting,  and  there  was  but  few  People,  and  I  spoke  from  I  Peter  i :  15  :  and 
the  People  attended  solemnly  to  appearance,  as  soon  as  the  meeting  was 
over  I  went  back  to  my  Daughters  and  it  was  very  Dark,  but  had  Torches 
to  give  us  light  thro'  thick  Woods — 

Sabb  Sep""  9:  went  to  Brother  David's  to  meeting,  wc  begun  the  service 
about  [Blank]  and  there  was  considerable  number  of  People,  and  I  spoke 
from  Acts  xvii,  28  &  30  and  we  had  a  solemn  meeting,  many  were  deeply 
affected.  Several  Onoydas  were  there — toward  Night  I  went  back  to  my 
Daughters  and  went  to  bed  soon — 

Thirdsday  Sep""  13  this  Day  we  had  appointed  as  a  Day  of  fasting  and 
prayer.  We  met  at  David  Fowler's  and  there  was  a  considerable  number 
of  People,  and  I  spoke  from  Luke  xv  and  it  was  a  solemn  Day.  there 
were  some  that  made  confession  of  their  wanderings  from  god,  many  were 
bow'd  before  the  Majesty  of  Heaven  and  I  believe  [the]  Day  will  not  be 
forgot  soon. 

Sabb  Sep""  16  had  our  meeting  at  Brother  David  Fowlers,  and  ther  was  a 
great  Number  of  People,  3  men  came  from  Stock — left  M^  Serjan's  meeting, 
and  there  were  some  white  People,  and  the  People  attend  with  Awful 
Solemnity.  I  spoke  from  Daniel  [blank]  and  Psalm  cxix.  i,  after  meeting 
went  [to]  George  Peters  and  took  supper  there  and  after  went  back  to 
Davids  &  lodged  there. 


THE  MISSIONARY  OF   THE    WIIDERNESS  27 1 

The  continuation  of  this  narrative  is  from  a  volume  of  the 
diary  in  Dartmouth  College  Library  : 

Thirdsday  Sepr  20.  17S7.  Just  at  Night  had  a  meeting  at  Widow  Fow- 
lers, and  there  was  not  many  People,  and  I  gave  them  a  few  words  of 
Exhortation,  from  Luke  vi.  8  and  the  People  attended  with  great  solemnity, 
and  some  affection,  after  meeting  I  went  to  Brother  Davids  &  Lodged 
there — 

Fryday  Sep""  21  Some  Time  in  the  morning  went  to  New  Stockbridge. 
David  Fowler  Ju'"  went  with  me.  we  got  there  about  2,  called  on  Mr  Ser- 
geant and  he  appered  good  condition'd,  and  so  to  Sir  Peters,  and  directly 
from  there  we  went  to  meeting  and  there  was  considerable  number  of  Peo- 
ple, and  I  spoke  from  Mark  v.  9  and  there  was  very  good  attention.  This 
meeting  was  Designd  chiefly  for  the  young  People. — soon  after  meeting 
went  back  to  Sir  Peters,  and  tooke  some  refreshment,  and  soon  after  Sun 
Set  went  to  meeting  again,  and  there  was  great  Number  of  People  and 
there  was  Several  that  related  there  exercises  of  mind. — three  men,  three 
women  relate  their  Exercises,  a  Young  man,  and  a  maried  woman,  mani- 
fested their  desire  of  Being  Baptized  and  some  Children  were  to  be  Bap- 
tized also. — M^"  Serjant  made  some  objection  against  two  Being  Baptized, 
but  the  Professors  gave  their  fellowship  to  their  Desire. — &  so  we  broke 
up  our  meeting  some  late  in  the  Evening.  I  [went]  to  Peters  and  their  I 
Lodged,  and  had  good  rest — 

Saturday  Sep*"  22  was  all  Day  at  the  Place — 

Sabb  Sep^  23  :  about  10  we  went  to  meeting,  and  there  was  a  large  num- 
ber of  People,  many  of  our  People  from  Brotherton  came  also,  and  some 
White[s]  were  there,  and  M""  Serjant  read  a  Discourse  to  the  Indians  in 
their  Tongue  and  read  it  also  in  English,  he  read  his  Prayer  also  in  Indian, 
and  he  prayed  partly  in  English — In  the  afternoon  I  tryed  to  Preach. 
I  spoke  from  Acts  x.  34.  35  and  there  was  very  great  solemnity.  Some 
were  much  affected. — and  I  Baptized  at  this  Time  Eight  persons  two  adults 
&  the  rest  children :  The  Name  of  the  Young  [man]  is  Solomon  and  the 
woman  [Blank].  Soon  after  meeting  I  went  to  Sir  Peters — In  the  evening 
we  had  another  meeting,  one  of  the  men  reharsed  what  [I]  had  deliver'd 
in  the  Day.  after  meeting  went  back  with  Sir  Peter  and  Lodged  there 
again — 

Monday  Sep'"  24,  I  took  Breakfast  with  M""  Sergeant  and  soon  after  Break- 
fast I  returnd  to  Brotherton.  Betsy  Fowler  fid  behind  me  and  got  to  the 
Place  near  Noon.  Stopt  but  few  minutes  at  Brother  Davids  and  past  on  to 
my  Daughters 

Tuesday  Sep'"  25:  eleven  Stockbridgers  came  to  our  Place  to  help,  and 
some  of  our  men  came  also. — 


272  SAMSOjV  occom 

Wednesday  I  had  help  again  till  after  Noon — 

Thirdsday  Sep""  27  in  the  Evening  had  meeting  at  Widow  Fowlers,  there 
was  but  few  People  and  I  Spoke  from  [Blank]  and  there  was  a  solemn 
attention,  after  I  had  done  speaking  two  of  our  People  spoke  a  [few] 
words,  one  after  another,  &  when  they  had  done  a  white  man  got  up  and 
Spoke,  and  he  spoke  with  a  feeling,  he  gave  an  account  of  a  remarkable 
reformation  in  Vergena — He  came  from  Stockbridge — after  meeting  I  went 
up  to  Brother  David  Fowlers  &  Lodged  there. — 

Saturday  Sepr  29  about  i  in  the  after  Noon,  my  Son  in  Law,  Anthony 
Paul  and  Daughter  Christiana  and  Betsey  Fowler  sot  of  for  Whites  Bour- 
row,  but  we  were  overtaken  with  Night  at  one  M'  Blanckets  and  there  we 
Lodged,  and  were  exceedingly  well  entertained,  and  we  had  a  little  Exer- 
cise with  a  Christian  Card, — we  went  to  Bed  in  good  season,  and  I  had  a 
comfortable  Rest — 

Sabb  Sepr  30  Got  up  very  early  and  Prayd  together  and  then  we  Sot  of. 
we  had  near  four  Miles  to  go  and  it  was  extreamly  Bad  riding.  Dreadful 
miry — We  got  to  the  Place  just  as  Esq  White  was  about  taking  Breakfast, 
and  we  sot  down  with  them — and  soon  after  Breakfast  we  went  to  meeting 
to  another  House  and  there  was  a  large  N.  of  People,  and  I  spoke  from 
Isaia  43:21:  and  there  was  great  attention  in  the  Assembly.  I  believe 
they  felt  the  weight  of  the  w^ord, — after  meeting;  I  went  home  with  M*" 
Weatmore,  and  tooke  Dinner  with  them,  in  the  after  Noon  meeting  was 
removed  to  this  House  on  account  of  a  funeral  that  is  to  be  attended  in  this 
House,  for  an  Infant  just  Born  Dyed  in  this  House  last  Monday,  it  liv'd 
about  two  Hours  after  it  was  Born,  and  they  have  kept  the  corps  to  this 
Day  for  they  expected  me  here  this  Day.  this  is  the  first  Death  that 
happend  in  this  Place  since  it  has  been  settled,  it  has  been  settled  three 
years,  and  it  is  now  a  large  Settlement,  this  after  Noon  I  spoke  from 
Isaia  38  :  i  and  it  was  a  Solemn  Time,  indeed  many  were  deeply  affected, 
there  was  a  shower  of  Tears,  soon  after  meeting  we  carried  the  little  corps 
to  the  grave  it  was  but  a  few  Rods  from  the  House,  after  Burying  returned 
to  the  House — in  the  Evening  went  to  Mr  Livingworths  and  spent  the 
evening  there — about  10  went  back  to  M^  Weatmores  and  Lodged  there — 

Monday  Octo''  i  got  up  early,  took  Breakfast  with  Family,  after  Break- 
fast went  lO  Esq'"  Whites,  and  got  ready,  and  about  9  we  sot  off  for  Home. 
Lieui  White  &  M''  Leavett  went  to  our  Place — as  we  past  a  long,  took 
Notice  of  the  Settlement,  and  it  is  a  fine  Spot  of  Land,  and  a  very  large 
Spot  too,  and  the  People  has  made  a  rapped  Progress  in  cultivating  the 
Land,  if  the  People  were  as  ingag'd  in  Religion  as.  they  are  in  their 
Temporal  Concerns  this  Settlement  would  be  very  much  like  the  Garden 
of  Eden,  which  was  the  Garden  of  God.  the  Lord  be  with  them  and 
l^less  them  that  they  may   indeed  be  a  Peculiar    People    unto  God,  that 


THE   MISSIONARY  OF   THE    WILDERNESS  273 

they  may  be  Lights  in  this  Wilderness — We  Stopt  a  while  at  Clenton, — 
and  we  got  Home  just  as  the  sun  was  setting. — 

Thirdsday  Oct''  4:  in  the  Evening  had  a  meeting  in  Widow  Fowlers,  and 
there  was  but  few  People,  and  I  Spoke  from  [Blank]  and  we  had  a  com- 
fortable Season — 

Sabb  Oct'"  7  :  had  a  meeting  in  Brother  Davids  and  there  was  not  many 
People,  and  I  Spoke  from  [Blank]  and  we  had  a  solemn  meeting:  Lodg'd 
at  Brother  Davids — 

Tuesday  Ocf  9:  about  i  in  the  afternoon  I  sot  of  for  Clenton,  got  there 
Some  Time  before  Night.  Stopt  a  little  while  at  M>'  Jones's  to  see  his  wife, 
had  been  sick  some  Time  and  she  was  very  poorly,  and  went  from  there  to 
Cap*  Foot's  and  in  the  Evening  the  People  collected  together  and  I  spoke 
to  them  from  John  xxi:  22  and  there  was  great  solemnity  amongst  the 
People.  I  believe  some  felt  the  weight  of  the  word — the  Beginning  of  last 
March  there  was  no  House  in  this  Place,  a  perfect  Wild  Wilderness.  Now 
there  are  20  Families  and  there  were  seventy  odd  Persons  in  the  meeting 
this  evening,  and  have  made  great  appearance  in  their  improvements, 
these  are  chiefly  from  New  England  and  Youngerly  People — 

Wednesday  Oct''  10  Stayd  here  till  after  Dinner,  and  then  went  to  a  cer- 
tain House  betweren  this  Place^and  Whitesbourough  about  half  way.  the 
mans  Name  is  Blanchet.  I  got  there  Some  Time  before  Night,  and  had  a 
meeting,  and  there  was  a  considerable  Number  of  People,  and  I  Spoke 
from  Psalm  cvii,  31  :  and  the  People  attended  exceeding  well. — this  was 
all  a  wild  Wilderness  in  the  beginning  of  last  spring  &  now  the  People  are 
settling  al  along  from  Whitesbourgh  to  Clenton — in  few  Years  this  wifl  be 
settled  thick  as  any  part  of  the  Globe  the  Land  is  so  good,  it  draws  all 
sorts  of  People  and  Nations  are  flocking  here  continually — 

Thirdsday  Oct''  11.  some  Time  [after]  Breakfast  I  sot  of  for  home — 
Stopt  a  while  at  Cap*  Foots  in  Clenton  and  took  Dinner,  went  on  again, 
got  to  my  Daughters — and  in  the  evening  we  had  a  meeting  [at]  Sister 
Esther's,  and  was  not  many  People  and  I  spoke  from  Psal  cvii.  31  and 
there  was  an  uncommon  attention,  many  were  deeply  affected. — 

Fryday  Octo*"  12  some  Time  in  the  morning  I  sot  of  for  N.  Stockbridge 
and  had  a  meeting  there  in  the  Evening,  and  I  spoke  from  [Blank]  and 
there  was  good  atention.     Lodgd  at  Sir  Peters — 

Saturday  Octo  13:  About  2  in  the  afternoon  I  went  toDeanville  [Dean's 
Patent]  got  to  the  Place  about  sun  set.  Peter  went,  found  Mr*  Dean 
exceedingly  distrest  with  uncommon  Difficulties  in  her  Pregnancy,  and 
Peter  and  I  went  to  M''  Jonathan  Deans  and  Lodged  there,  and  2.  o.  c.  in 
the  Night  I  was  called  up  to  the  other  House,  and  Bleed  M"  Dean  and  I 
went  directly,  and  found  her  much  distrest  and  took  Blood  from  her  foot 
and  Bled  exceeding  well — and  her  distresses  begun  to  mitigate  directly,  and 
19 


274  SAJl/SOAT  OCCOM 

I  stayd  the  rest  of  the  Night  and  she  was  somewhat  comfortable — I  was 
calld  up  again  before  Day  to  write  to  Doc'"  for  them,  for  they  were  sending 
to  Albany  for  one,  and  were  sending  for  M''  Dean  too  for  he  had  been  gone 
some  Time  to  Spencertown — 

Sabb  Octo'"  14:  about  10  the  People  got  together,  and  there  was  a  large 
number  of  People,  many  White  People  from  other  Places  and  many  Indians 
from  Both  our  Towns.  I  spoke  from  Matt  v,  20  &  5  and  there  was  a  sol- 
emn attention  all  Day.  Soon  after  meeting  Peter  and  I  went  to  Clenton. 
got  there  a  little  after  Sun  Set.  We  put  up  at  Cap*  Foots  and  the  People 
Collected  directly  and  there  was  quite  a  large  number,  and  I  spoke  from 
[Blank],     we  lodged  at  the  Same  House  &  had  comfortable  rest — 

Monday  Octo'"  15:  Soon  after  Breakfast  went  to  mill,  and  was  there  Some 
Time,  before  we  coud  get  Grinding — we  got  to  our  Place  about  i  :  and  Sir 
Peter  past  on  to  his  Place — 

Thirdsday  Octo""  18 :  Went  to  Stockbridge  to  a  wedding  Just  before  SunSet, 
attended  upon  Marriage,  the  Young  man  was  one  the  Sachem's  son  and  the 
Young  woman  was  of  noted  Family,  and  there  was  a  vast  concourse  of  Peo- 
ple of  many  Nations,  it  was  Said  there  were  ten  different  Languages  among 
the  People  and  the  People  behaved  decently,  but  the  Onoydas  began  to  be- 
have unseamly  and  in  the  Night  they  had  a  terrible  froleck  even  all  Night — 

Fryday  was  all  Day  at  the  Place — in  the  evening  we  collected  together  at 
Cap*  Hindrecks.  I  spoke  from  Matt  6  :  22  :  23  and  there  was  a  solemn 
attention,  after  I  had  done  Cap'  Hindreck  rehearsed  the  Same.  Lodgd 
at  the  Same  House — 

Saturday  Octo'"  20:  some  Time  in  the  afternoon  I  returnd  to  Brotherton. 
M'"  Warmsly  went  with  me.  we  stopt  at  Roger  Waubys  and  there  took 
Dinner;  soon  after  Dinner  I  went  on  and  M'"  Warmsly  went  back.  I  got 
to  Brother  Davids  before  Night  and  I  Lodgd  at  Davids — 

Sabb.  Octo'"  21  :  about  10  the  People  got  together  &  [there]  was  a  large 
Number  of  People,  Some  white  People  and  I  spoke  from  John  xiii.  17 
and  the  People  were  very  solemn  and  many  were  affected.  Lodged  at  the 
Same  House — 

Monday  Octo'"  22,  in  the  evening  had  a  meeting  in  Sister  Fowlers,  and 
there  was  not  many  People  and  I  spoke  from  [Blank]  and  the  People 
attended  well.     Lodgd  at  the  same  House. 

Tuesday  Octo'"  23.  People  from  Stockbridge  came  to  help  me — the[re] 
were  5  of  them  and  they  workd  two  Days. 

Thirdsday  Octo""  24:  we  were  calld  suddenly  to  appear  before  the  chiefs 
of  the  Onoyd,  that  had  Just  come  to  our  Place — and  we  eat  our  Breakfast 
in  hast,  and  went  direcly  to  Widow  Fowlers  and  there  the  chiefs  meet  with 
us,  and  it  was  about  our  Lands.  But  there  was  such  confusion  I  woud  not 
say  a  word  about  it.     it  was  a  party  Scheme,  contrivd  by  a  few  of  our  Peo- 


THE   MISSIONARY  OF   THE    WILDERNESS  275 

pie.  they  [have]  been  agreing  with  the  Onoydas  for  a  Piece  of  Land  with- 
out the  knowledge  of  the  Headmen  of  the  Place.  Some  of  the  contrivers 
of  this  mischief  were  much  intoxicated  and  they  drove  on  the  Business  with 
all  fury  in  no  order,  it  was  like  Whirlwind.  Some  Time  towards  Night  we 
broke  up  and  every  one  went  his  way  :  in  great  confusion  of  mind. — I  went 
to  Brother  Davids  and  there  Lodgd  with  a  sorrowful  mind. — 

Fr}day  Octo'"  25  was  at  our  Places  all  Day 

Saturday  Octo'"  26  Towards  Night  Just  as  I  was  going  away  to  Clenton 
Brother  Chrippen  and  B""  Swane  came  to  my  son  in  Laws,  and  we  had  a 
little  conversation,  these  Brethren  are  from  a  Place  called  Springfield, 
Joing  to  Cherryvaley ;  so  I  left  them,  and  went  on  to  Clenton.  got  there 
about  sun  set  put  up  at  Cap'  Foots,  found  them  all  well. — 

Sabb.  Octo*'  27  about  half  after  10  we  began  the  exercise,  and  there  w^as 
a  large  Number  of  People,  some  from  other  Places,  &  several  Stockbridgers 
were  with  us,  and  there  was  very  great  attention  both  before  noon  and 
afternoon,  1  spoke  from  John.  I  know  you  that  the  Love  of  god  is  not  in 
you,  in  the  afternoon  from  Mark  viii,  36,  3*7.  as  soon  as  the  meeting  was 
done  I  went  of  to  Brotherton,  the  Stockbridgers  went  with  me.  we  got 
there  about  Sun  Set.  we  eat  a  few  mouthfulLs  and  went  to  meeting  at 
sister  easter's  and  there  was  not  much  moving,  there  seemed  to  be  some 
party  spirit  in  the  meeting. — 

Sabb.  Nov'"  4  Preached  at  New  Stockbridge  &  Spoke  from  [Blank] 
and  there  was  very  serious  attention  al  Day 

Monday  Nov'"  5:  went  back  to  Brotherton — 

Sabb.  Nov'"  11  :  Preachd  at  Brotherton  once  more  and  Baptized  Brother 
David  Fowler's  Children  six  of  them,  and  we  had  a  solemn  Day  of  it.  in 
the.evening  we  had  another  meeting,  and  it  was  a  comfortable  meeting — 

Monday  Nov'"  12  this  Day  intended  to  set  out  for  home  but  it  begun 
[raining]  in  the  morning,  and  so  stopt  for  the  Day — 

Tuesday  Nov'"  13:  Got  up  very  early  and  got  ready,  and  we  sot  out  Sun 
about  an  Hour  and  half  high.  Betsy  Fowler,  Jerusha  Wympe  and  Henry 
Stensel  a  young  Dutch  man  went  with  me.  we  had  exceeding  fine  warm 
Day.  got  thro'  the  woods  before  sun  sit.  I  put  up  at  Conrod  P'olss. 
Jerusha  and  Betsey  went  to  M""  Smiths  about  2  miles  further. 

Occom  did  not  return  directly  to  IMohegan  after  this  visit ; 
but  in  company  with  Davjd  Fowler,  representing  the  Brother- 
town  Indians,  and  Peter  Pauquaunaupeet  those  of  New  Stock- 
bridge,  went  on  a  journey  to  solicit  aid  for  the  maintenance  of 
Occom  as  their  minister.  Of  this  ecclesiastical  relationship 
we  shall  write  presently.  They  drew  up  an  address  stating 
their  case  to  use  on  this  mission  : 


276  SAA/SOA^  OCCOM 

To  all  Benevolent  Gentlemen,  to  Whom  these  followmg  lines  may  make 
their  appearance. 

We  who  lately  mov'd  from  Several  Tribes  of  Indians  in  New  England, 
and  Setled  here  in  Oneida  Country.— And  we  also  Muhheeconnuck  Tribe, 
who  lately  came  from  Housotonuk  alias  Stockbridge,  and  have  settled  in 
Oneida,  And  finding  it  our  indispensible  Duty  to  maintain  the  Christian 
Religion  amongst  ourselves  in  our  Towns,  And  from  this  Consideration, 
Some  of  us  desired  our  Dear  Brother,  the  Rev^  Samfon  Occom,  to  give  us 
a  visit,  and  accordingly,  he  came  up  two  years  ago  this  Fall,  and  he  was 
here  a  few  Days ;  and  his  preaching  came  with  great  weight  upon  our 
Minds.  And  he  has  been  here  two  Summers  and  Falls  since.  And  we 
must  confess  to  the  Glory  of  God,  that  God  has  made  him  an  Eminant 
Instrument  amongst  us,  of  a  Great  and  Remarkable  Reformation.  And 
have  now  given  him  a  Call  to  Settle  amongst  us,  and  be  our  Minister  that 
we  may  enjoy  the  glorious  Doctrines  and  ordinances  of  the  New  Testament. 
And  he  has  accepted  our  Call.— But  we  for  ourselves  very  weak,  we  c'd  do 
but  very  little  for  him.     And  we  Want  to  have  him  live  comfortable. 

The  late  unhappy  wars  have  Stript  us  almost  Naked  of  every  thing,  our 
Temporal  enjoyments  are  greatly  lesstened,  our  Numbers  vastly  diminished, 
by  being  warmly  engaged  in  favour  of  the  United  States.  Tho'  we  had  no 
immediate  Business  with  it,  and  our  Spiritual  enjoyments  and  Priviledges 
are  all  gone.  The  Fountains  abroad,  that  use  to  water  and  refresh  our 
Wilderness  are  all  Dryed  up,  and  the  Springs  that  use  to  rise  near  are 
ceased.  And  we  are  truly  like  the  man  that  fell  among  Thieves,  that  was 
Stript,  wounded  and  left  half  dead  in 'the  high  way. — And  our  Wheat  was 
blasted  and  our  Corn  and  Beans  were  Frost  bitten  and  kill'd  this  year. — 
And  our  moving  up  here  was  expensive  and  these  have  brought  us  to  great 
Necessity — And  these  things  have  brought  us  to  a  resolution  to  try  to  get 
a  little  help  from  the  People  of  God,  for  the  present;  for  we  have  deter- 
mined to  be  independent  as  fast  as  we  can,  that  we  may  be  no  longer 
troublesome  to  our  good  Friends, — And  therefore  our  most  humble  Request 
and  Petition  is,  to  the  Friends  of  the  Kingdom  of  Jesus  Christ,  [that  they] 
would  take  notice  of  us,  and  help  us  in  encourageing  our  Dear  Minister,  in 
Communicating  Such  Things  that  may  Support  him  and  his  Family. — This  is 
the  most  humble  request  and  Petition  of  the  Publicks  true  Friend  &  Brothers 

Elijah  W^impey 
New-Stockbridge  David  Fowler 

Nov  28:  1787  Joseph  Shauquethgent 

Brotherton  Hendrech  Aupaumut 

Nov'' 29:  1787.  Joseph  Quaunckham 

Peter  Pohquenumpec* 
Conn.  Hist.  Soc,  Indian  Papers. 


THE   MISSIONARY  OF   THE    WILDERNESS  277 

The  principal  places  they  visited  on  this  tour  were  Newark, 
New  Brunswick,  Trenton  and  Princeton  in  New  Jersey,  and 
they  spent  about  a  month  in  and  about  Philadelphia,  return- 
ing by  the  way  of  New  York.  Some  funds  were  collected,  but 
much  less  than  they  had  hoped.  It  was  the  thirty-first  of  March, 
1788,  before  Occom  reached  home.  He  there  resumed  his  work 
until  the  twenty-sixth  of  May,  when  he  started  again  for  Oneida, 
arriving  at  Brothertown  July  eighth.  We  have  not  a  complete 
account  of  that  visit,  and  a  lost  volume  of  the  diary  leaves  us 
without  details  until  May  11,  1789.  On  that  date  we  find  him 
at  Albany  moving  his  family  and  other  New  England  Indians 
to  their  new  homes.  It  is  known,  however,  that  he  spent  his 
time  as  in  the  preceding  years.  We  regret  most  the  loss  of 
the  account  of  his  own  departure  from  the  Mohegan  home, 
where  he  had  so  long  lived.  It  must  have  cost  him  some  sorrow. 
Most  of  his  furniture  he  was  obliged  to  leave  behind  in  the 
care  of  his  sister,  Lucy  Tantaquidgeon,  or  his  younger  sons. 
On  the  wall  hung  the  painting  of  him  which  had  been  made  in 
England  and  presented  to  him.  His  books  he  could  not 
carry,  and  perhaps  we  owe  to  that  fact  the  preservation  of  so 
many  of  them,  as.  in  time  they  became  scattered.  His  book- 
case or  secretary  was  left,  and  its  two  parts  are  now  separated, 
one  being  in  the  Connecticut  Historical  Society  rooms.  So  he 
left  Mohegan,  the  home  of  his  fathers,  which  he  more  than 
any  other  Christian  Indian  has  made  famous.  Although  he 
visited  New  England  in  the  September  following  and  stood 
again  in  his  familiar  and  noted  house  on  the  hillside,  he  had 
finished  there  his  work.  The  company  he  then  led  forth  con- 
tained all  who  could  then  be  persuaded  to  emigrate,  and  so 
this  Indian  Moses  brought  his  people  into  their  promised  land. 
The  journey  was  doubtless  made  on  a  schooner  from  New  Lon- 
don to  Albany,  where  they  took  wagons  to  Schenectady  and 
in  bateaux  followed  the  course  of  the  Mohawk  river  until  they 
reached  the  trail  through  the  woods  to  Brothertown, 


278  SAA/SOjV  occom 

It  is  evident  that  Occom's  journeys  to  and  fro  afforded  him 
an  excellent  opportunity  of  ministering  to  the  infant  settle- 
ments along  the  route  of  westward  emigration,  then  setting  in 
with  a  strong  current.  No  one  could  do  it  better.  He  had 
no  sectarian  prejudices,  and  was  content  to  preach  in  any 
sort  of  a  place  to  any  kind  of  an  audience.  Everybody  knew 
him.  All  received  him  gladly  into  their  homes.  He  married 
couples,  baptized  children,  visited  and  doctored  the  sick,  and 
attended  funerals.  In  the  evenings  when  no  neighborhood 
meeting  could  be  held,  he  gathered  the  young  people  about 
the  pioneer's  fireside,  and  entertained  and  instructed  them 
with  a  game  which  he  had  devised,  called  "Christian  cards." 
These  were  versified  passages  of  Scripture  printed  on  card- 
board, which  he  gave  out  to  the  company  and  as  they  were 
read  he  offered  some  comments  upon  them.  He  seems  to 
have  had  an  Old  Testament  and  a  New  Testament  pack ;  and 
the  art  was  in  the  appropriateness  of  the  card  to  the  person, 
at  which  religious  dealing  the  Reverend  Occom  was  doubtless 
expert,  though  he  does  note  instances  when  one  "did  not 
get  the  card  which  he  intended."  Occasionally  he  met  with 
those  who  were  fond  of  singing,  as  he  was  himself.  Then  from 
the  copy  of  his  own  "Hymns  and  Spiritual  Songs,"  which  he 
carried  in  his  pocket,  he  would  lead  the  company  in  praise. 
Of  course  there  was  a  novelty  in  his  being  an  Indian  minister, 
which  furthered  his  popularity  in  the  cabin  of  the  woodsman 
as  it  had  among  the  nobility  of  England ;  but  he  was  never 
conscious  of  any  such  distinction.  He  won  respect  and 
affection  wherever  he  went  in  the  settlements  because  he 
honored  his  own  mission.  Some  were  New  England  people 
who  were  glad  to  hear  a  sermon  once  more.  Many  were 
shepherdless  sheep  in  the  wilderness.  All  were  interested  in 
the  outside  world  they  had  left,  and  were  ready  to  welcome  a 
visitor  who  had  news  to  impart  of  any  sort  to  while  away  the 
evening  hour.     There  were  formal  occasions,  too,  even  among 


THE   MISSIONARY  OF   THE    WILDERNESS  279 

pioneers,  when  a  minister  was  needed  to  add  dignity  to  the 
event.  Such  was  the  first  "training  day"  at  Clinton,  the  first 
of  September,  1789,  when  the  military,  making  a  "fine  appear- 
ance," waited  on  the  Indian  minister  at  Colonel  Timothy 
Tuttle's  newly  built  frame  house  and  escorted  him  to  the  place 
of  assembly,  where  he  delivered  to  them  an  "  exhortation  "  and 
prayed,  as  they  had  been  wont  Jto  order  the  day  in  New  Eng- 
land. Sometimes  there  was  a  novel  aptness  in  his  sermon 
texts  which  must  have  captured  his  auditors,  as  when  at  the  New 
Lebanon  Springs  he  chose  the  -words,  "  Now  there  is  at  Jeru- 
salem a  pool,"  or  when  in  a  back  settlement  he  spoke  on  "A 
three  days'  journey  into  the  wilderness."  The  most  amusing 
incidents  of  his  travels  are  recorded  in  the  utmost  seriousness. 
The  track  of  his  humor  is  covered  like  the  trail  of  an  Indian  ; 
there  is  not  a  trace  of  a  smile  in  any  of  his  writings.  An  acci- 
dent several  years  before  had  made  him  lame,  and  he  could 
not  walk  far.  So  he  went  from  place  to  place,  riding  such  a 
horse  as  he  could  own,  one  of  which  must  have  revived  the 
memory  of  his  traditional  ill-fortune  by  expiring  in  a  quagmire. 
So  in  winter  and  in  summer,  as  it  chanced,  through  rivers, 
intervales  and  forests,  he  pursued  his  mission. 

Meanwhile,  however,  Occom  was  doing  his  utmost  for  the 
religious  welfare  of  the  Rrothertown  and  Stockbridge  Indians. 
The  latter,  in  1785,  when  the  main  body  arrived,  had  no 
minister  nor  any  prospect  of  one,  for  Sergeant  did  not  accom- 
pany them.  Their  town  was  west  of  Brothertown,  and  six 
.miles  only,  says  Occom,  from  Fowler's  house  on  the  hill. 
This  was  not  inconvenient  for  the  New  Stockbridge  Indians. 
So  they  fell  naturally  and  without  any  improper  persuasion  on 
Occom's  part  into  the  plan  of  worshiping  on  alternate  Sun- 
days in  Fowler's  barn  and  in  some  house  at  Stockbridge.  He 
thus  combined  the  tribes  in  one  parish,  to  which  he  minis- 
tered for  two  seasons  before  Sergeant  made  his  first  visit  to 
his  people.     By  this  time  he  had  established  himself  in  the 


28o  SAJ/SOiV  OCCOM 

favor  of  those  who  had  formerly  been  under  Sergeant's  care, 
and  had  removed  as  a  church  into  the  wilderness  or  had 
brought  letters  from  the  old  church  intending  to  form  one. 
These  and  some  of  the  Brothertown  Indians  united,  in  1787, 
in  extending  a  call  to  Occom.^  This  w^as  in  the  month  of 
August  and  before  Sergeant  arrived.  At  this  time  the  Stock- 
bridge  minister  had  no  inte^ntion  of  removing  to  the  new 
settlement.  He  knew  the  Indians  could  not  support  him,  and 
grants  from  the  English  and  Scotch  societies  had  been  cut  off. 
The  two  ministers  met  on  the  twenty-first  of  September,  as  related 
in  Occom's  diary,  and  on  the  following  Sabbath  they  shared  the 
services  of  the  day.  Then  Occom  wdth  representatives  of 
both  tribes  made  the  above-mentioned  journey  to  see  what 
support  he  could  obtain  in  his  ministry.  That  autumn,  how- 
ever, the  situation  was  changed  by  the  incorporation  of  a  new 
society  in  Massachusetts,  called  "The  Society  for  Propagating 
the  Gospel  among  the  Indians  and  others  in  North  America." 
Sergeant  went  to  Boston  and  applied  to  the  society  for  aid. 
He  was  accepted  and  ordained  as  an  evangelist  with  a  view  of 
continuing  his  mission  among  the  Stockbridge  tribe.  This 
caused  a  division  among  his  people,  some  adhering  to  him 
and  others  to  Occom.  Such  was  the  origin  of  these  two 
churches.  Sergeant  gives  some  account  of  the  matter  in  a 
letter  to  Rev.  Peter  Thacher,  secretary  of  the  new  society, 
dated  May  19,  1788,  from  which  we  quote:  "The  dispute 
began  upon  this  question,  whether  they  had  better  take  Mr. 
Occom  or  myself  for  their  minister,  as  he  was  about  to  settle 
in  a  neighboring  town,  expecting  to  have  him  part  of  the  time, 
and  could  support  him  easier  than  myself.  In  their  division 
of  the  tribe  on  the  question,  there  w^ere  30  for  Mr.  Occom 
and  50  for  myself.  Since  my  new  appointment  half  of  the 
30  have  openly  left  Mr.  Occom.  I  have  n't  time,  Sir,  to 
mention    some    unkind    measures    Mr.    Occom    has    taken    to 

^  This  document  and  the  reply  are  in  the  Conii.  Hist,  Soc,  India^i  Papers. 


THE  MISSIONARY  OF   THE    WILDERNESS  28 1 

support  his  wish,  but  only  mention  that  the  bigger  half  of  my 
people  are  so  prejudiced  against  Mr.  Occom  that  I  sincerely 
believe  if  I  were  to  leave  them  they  would  be  most  unhappy. 
In  the  division  of  the  old  professors  belonging  to  the 
Stockbridge  church  10  were  for  Occom  and  16  for  me."  ^ 

Samson  Occom  removed  permanently  to  Bcothertown  in 
1789.  The  Stockbridge  minister  was  then  among  his  people, 
though  it  is  said  he  did  not  remove  his  family  thither  until  the 
year  1796.'''  An  attempt  was  made  July  26,  1789.  to  adjust 
these  differences  in  a  meeting  at  New  Stockbridge,  but  with- 
out success.  So  they  concluded,  as  Occom  says,  "  That  every 
one  should  have  full  liberty  to  chuse  and  act  in  accordance 
with  the  light  and  understanding  he  has  in  his  religious  con- 
cerns." Sergeant,  having  good  assurances  of  outside  support, 
had  the  advantage ;  but  Occom  had  been  first  on  the  field  and 
had  been  regularly  called  to  be  their  minister.  Joseph  Pye 
and  Joseph  Quinney,  who  had  been  conspicuous  in  calling 
Occom,  finally  went  over  to  Sergeant's  church;  but  "Sir 
Peter"  and  Captain  Hendrick  remained  faithful  to  him. 
Thus  Occom  ministered  at  Stockbridge  and  at  Brothertown — 
after  1788  in  the  schoolhouse — until  his  death.  By  the  divi- 
sion of  the  Suffolk  Presbytery,  he  became  a  member  of  the 
Presbytery  of  Albany.  This  fact  led  him  to  bring  his  church 
into  that  ecclesiastical  fellowship,  which  he  did  with  their 
approval,  being  instructed  by  them,  September  8,  1 791,  "to 
spend  a  portion  of  his  time  among  the  Brothertown  Indians 
and  explain  to  them  the  discipline  laid  down  in  the  Confes- 
sion of  Faith  and  render  an  account  of  his  diligence  therein."  ^ 
Still  he  seems,  from  the  beginning,  to  have  considered  his 
church  of  the  Presbyterian  order.     Only  a  few  months  before 

'^MSS.  of  the  Society^  Am.  Bd.  Com.  For.  Miss.  Sergeant  was  certainly  com- 
missioned by  this  society  in  1788,  two  years  earlier  than  the  time  noted  in  the  printed 
volume,  Soc.  for  Prop,  the  Gos.^  1887,  p.  40. 

'Jones'  Anjtals  of  Oneida  County,  pp.  888,  889.  * 

*  MS.  Records  of  the  Albajiy  Presbytery. 


282  S A  A/SOX  OCCOM 

his  death,  in  1792,  he  wrote  as  follows:  "The  People  I  attend 
upon,  have  willingly  and  cheerfully  adopted  the  Confession  of 
Faith  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  of  the  United  States  in 
America — they  Joyfully  put  themselves  under  the  Care  and 
inspection  of  our  Presbytery,  and  thankfully  receive  the  Gos- 
pel Fellowship  open'd  for  them  and  will  from  this  Time  Look 
upon  themselves  [as]  one  with  the  Presbyterian  Family.  Sir, 
This  Church  is  the  first  Indian  Presbyterian  Church  that 
ever  was  formed  by  Indians  themselves,  for  we  had  no  white 
man  to  assist  us  when  we  formed."^ 

After  Occom's  death,  through  the  instrumentality  of  Rev. 
Samuel  Eells,  missionary  in  that  region  in  behalf  of  the  Gen- 
eral Association  of  Connecticut,  the  Stockbridge  portion  of 
his  church  was  united  with  that  of  Mr.  Sergeant.  A  meeting 
for  this  purpose  was  held  at  New  Stockbridge,  September  24, 
1793.  Mr.  Eells  then  had  a  statement  of  the  case  from  the 
minister,  the  church,  and  the  principal  Indians  of  the  tribe 
not  members.  He  declared  his  opinion  that  both  ministers 
were  "good  men."  In  view  of  the  circumstances,  however,  he 
thought  it  best  to  unite  the  Stockbridge  Indians  under  Mr. 
Sergeant's  ministry,  which  he  accordingly  did.^'^  .  This  was  a 
wise  union  for  that  portion  of  Occom's  church,  but  it  left  the 
members  of  the  Brothertown  tribe  to  become  the  prey  of  such 
religious  factions  as  might  spring  up  among  them  through  the 
influence  of  the  itinerant  preachers  of  the  time.  Thereafter 
they  had  only  such  ministers  or  exhorters  as  were  raised 
up  among  their  own  people.  So  ends  the  story  of  Occom's 
Teligious  ministration  among  his  people. 

■'  Wlieelock  Papers. 
^"  Eells'  account — MSS.  Conn.  Home  Miss.  Soc. 


CHAPTER    XV 

THE    TRIALS    OF  OCCOM's    LAST    DAYS 
1785-1792 

The  famous  author  of  "  The  Pioneers  "  has  put  into  the 
mouth  of  Nathaniel  Bumppo,  his  hero  in  adventure,  the  follow- 
ing impressive  utterance :  "  When  I  look  about  me  at  these 
hills,  where  I  used  to  could  count  sometimes  twenty  smokes, 
curling  over  the  tree  tops,  from  Delaware  camps,  it  raises 
mournful  thoughts,  to  think  that  not  a  redskin  is  left  of  them 
all :  unless  it  be  a  drunken  vagabond  from  the  Oneidas  or 
them  Yankee  Indians,  who  they  say  be  moving  up  from  the 
sea-shore,  and  who  belong  to  none  of  God's  creatures,  to  my 
seeming,  being,  as  it  were,  neither  fish  nor  flesh — neither  white 
man  nor  savage.  Well,  well !  the  time  has  come  at  last,  and  I 
must  go."  ^  It  was  too  bad,  surely.  Leather-stocking,  that  the 
Indian,  who  had  been  crowded  out  of  New  England  and  could 
no  longer  be  a  savage  there  if  he  would,  should  attempt  to 
make  a  new  home  in  the  wilderness  and  live  there  like  a  civi- 
lized man  !  But  one  thing  was  worse — this,  that  the  white 
man  would  not  give  him  a  chance  to  try  it  in  peace. 

Samson  Occom,  more  than  any  other  North  American  Indian, 
had  considered  the  problem  of  civilizing  his  people.  He  knew 
their  weaknesses  and  appreciated  the  difficulties.  His  expe- 
rience in  the  Mohegan  Land  Case,  his  large  acquaintance  with 
Indian  affairs  in  many  tribes  and  his  repeated  conferences 
with  those  whites  who  were  most  engaged  in  such  matters,  had 
brought  him  to   see  the  situation  in  all  its  lights  and  ponder 

1  The  Pioneers,  Cooper,  Chap.  XLL 
283 


:84 


SAA/SOA'  OCCOM 


much  over  it.  If  any  native  has  merited  the  dignity  of  being 
called  an  Indian  statesman,  that  man  was  Samson  Occom. 
To  recapitulate  his  views  :  he  believed  in  the  efficacy  of  Chris- 
tian missions,  and  in  education,  particularly  in  industrial 
affairs ;  but  he  seems  to  have  thought  that  the  civilization  of 
the  Indian  depended  in  large  measure  upon  his  relation  to  the 
land  upon  which  he  lived.  So  long  as  he  roamed  at  large  in 
the  forest,  he  thought  the  native  would  remain  a  savage.  It 
was  necessary  to  gather  them  apart  from  the  white  men  and 
on  land  which  they  could  not  sell,  wjiere  they  could  be  taught 
industrial  pursuits  and  obtain  a  living  from  the  soil.  More- 
over, he  believed  in  maintaining,  so  far  as  possible,  a  tribal 
unity,  establishing  a  form  of  self-government  under  the  pro- 
tection of  the  state,  and  preserving  the  Indian  blood  in  its 
purity,  especially  from  a  mixture  with  the  negro.  These  prin- 
ciples he  sought  to  embody  in  the  Brothertown  tribe  and  the 
town  they  founded. 

We  have  already  a  considerable  acquaintance  with  the  indi- 
viduals who  were  most  prominent  in  this  movement — Occom, 
his  brothers-in-law,  David  and  Jacob  Fowler,  and  his  son-in-law, 
Joseph  Johnson,, of  one  family  by  marriage,  two  of  them  min- 
isters and  all  pupils  of  Rev.  Eleazar  Wheelock.  But  other 
educated  Indians  were  participants  in  this  affair.  Abraham 
Simons,  Emanuel  Simons,  James  Niles  and  John  Matthews, 
among  the  founders,  were  also  pupils  at  the  Indian  Charity 
School.  Others  educated  there  in  part  were  interested,  and 
their  kindred  or  descendants  removed  to  Brothertown,  as,  for 
instance,  Samson  Wauby,  Samuel  Niles,  James  Simons,  Han- 
nah Poquiantup,  Hannah  Garrett,  Mary  Seketer,  Sarah  Simons, 
and  Hannah  Nonesuch.  Samuel  Tallman  was  there  before 
the  Revolution.  Samuel  Ashbow,  the  Mohegan  preacher,  was 
there  for  a  time.  Benjamin  Toucee,  a  son  of  David,  an  early 
Farmington  friend  of  the  movement  who  died  before  its 
accomplishment,  had   been    a  student  at  Dartmouth  College. 


THt:    TRIALS   OF  OCCOM'S  LAST  DAYS  285 

In  fact,  nearly  every  one  of  Wheelock's  pupils,  who  was  of 
the  New  England  tribes  and  lived  to  that  day,  was  concerned 
in  the  founding  of  this  Indian  town.  It  was  a  natural  fruit  of 
Wheelock's  work  which  he  did  not  live  to  see  and  of  which  he 
never  dreamed.  Other  conspicuous  members  of  the  Brother- 
town  tribe  had  been  pupils  in  the  schools  of  the  seven  settle- 
ments of  Christian  Indians.  Such  were  Elijah  Wampy,  Sam- 
uel and  John  Adams,  and  Andrew  Acorrocomb  of  Farmington  ; 
John  Tuhie,  Roger  Wauby,  and  John  Skeesuck  of  Charles- 
town;  and  Samson  Poquiantup  and  James  Sampson  of  Groton. 
Moreover,  Occom  had  a  large  circle  of  family  connections  who 
became  residents  at  Brothertown.  His  daughter  Olive  mar- 
ried Solomon  Adams,  son  of  the  above-named  Samuel,  and 
Anthony  Paul  married  his  daughter  Christiana.  Ephraim 
Pharaoh  of  Montauk  was  his  brother-in-law.  He  was  related 
to  the  Wauby,  Samson  and  Poquiantup  families.  Indeed, 
before  his  death  in  1792,  he  was  surrounded  with  a  people 
whom  he  could  call  his  own  in  a  special  sense,  and  they 
included  the  most  intelligent  and  religious  portion  of  the  tribe. 
It  was  well  that  this  was  so,  for  in  Occom's  last  days  he  had  a 
battle  to  fight  in  behalf  of  the  landed  rights  of  his. people,  and 
in  this  his  kindred  gave  him  faithful  support. 

The  Oneidas'  grant  of  1774  had  conveyed  a  large  and  valua- 
ble tract  of  land  west  of  the  "  Line  of  Property,"  and  extending 
along  it  about  thirteen  miles  north  and  south.  These  lands 
were  given  to  the  New  England  Indians  and  their  posterity 
"without  power  of  alienation,"  and  they  could  "not  be  pos- 
sessed by  any  persons  deemed  of  the  said  tribes  who  are 
descended  from  or  have  intermixed  with  negroes  or  molat- 
toes."  Occom  and  his  friends  considered  this  as  a  deed  of 
gift  by  which  they  had  full  title  to  the  said  lands.  Scarcely 
had  they  located  there,  however,  when  the  Oneidas,  at  the 
instigation,  it  was  said,  of  the  whites,  set  up  the  claim  that  the 
New  England  Indians  had  not  fulfilled  the  conditions  of  the 


286  SAMSOiV  OCCOM 

grant  and  it  was  void.  This  was  in  1785.  We  cannot  imagine 
what  those  conditions  were  unless  the  lands  were  to  be  occu- 
pied at  once,  which  had  certainly  been  bravely  attempted. 
Meanwhile,  of  course,  circumstances  had  changed,  and  the 
Oneidas  undoubtedly  wanted  to  reclaim  the  tract.  Early  in 
1786  a  council  was  held,  and  they  proposed  to  give  the 
Brothertown  Indians,  in  lieu  of  their  claim,  640  acres,  whereon 
those  who  had  already  emigrated  could  live.^  This  was 
promptly  declined.  On  the  sixteenth  of  October,  at  another 
council,  an  account  of  which  is  given  in  Occom's  diary,  the 
Oneidas  repeated  their  offer,  and  wanted  them  to  "live  at 
large  "  on  their  lands.  Again  on  the  twenty-third  they  urged 
their  case  and  threatened  to  take  back  all  the  lands  if  the 
Brothertown  Indians  did  not  accept  their  offer.  Occom  was 
unmoved,  and  the  intelligent  majority  supported  him.  A  few, 
however,  were  ready  to  yield.  This  was  the  beginning  of  the 
factional  disputes  which  so  embittered  Occom's  last  days.  So 
matters  stood  until  the  2 2d  of  September,  1788,  when  the 
Oneidas,  by  a  treaty  made  at  Fort  Schuyler,  ceded  all  their 
lands  to  the  state  of  New  York,  excepting  their  own  reserva- 
tion, and  one  for  the  Brothertown  and  another  for  the  Stock- 
bridge  Indians.^  This  reduced  their  extensive  tract  to  one 
''  two  miles  in  breadth  and  three  miles  in  length."  The  Onei- 
das agreed  to  this  in  the  negotiations ;  but  the  state  of  New 
York  would  not  thus  disregard  the  conveyance  of  1774,  which 
Occom  had  recorded  in  the  office  of  the  Secretary  of  State  in 
Connecticut,  and  upon  which  he  planted  his  feet  to  stand  for 
their  rights.  So  the  General  Assembly  of  New  York,  having 
a  desire  to  do  justice  to  the  New  England  Indians,  in  "An 
Act  for  the  Sale  and  Disposition  of  Lands  "  passed  Feb- 
ruary 25,    1789,  provided  that  the    Surveyor    General    should 

^  N.  Y.  Arch.,  Letts,  on  Indian  Affairs,  James  Dean  to  Gov.  Clinton,  June  7, 17S6/ 
^  MS.  Rec.  Supt.  Brothertown  Indians;  Proceedings  of  the  Com.   af  Ind.  Affairs 
Hough,  I,  122,  230,  241-243. 


THE    TRIALS   OF  OC COATS  LAST  DAYS  287 

lay  out  for  them  "all  that  part  of  the"  tract  of  land,  formerly 
given  to  them  by  the  Oneida  Indians,  which  is  included  in 
the  cession  lately  made  by  the  Oneida  Indians  to  the  people 
of  this  State,"  and  south  of  the  lands  which  by  the  same  act 
were  confirmed  to  Samuel  Kirkland  and  his  sons.^  This 
tract  was  six  times  larger  than  the  reservation  in  the  treaty, 
and  when  it  was  finally  surveyed,  in  1795,  was  found  to 
contain  24,052  acres.  Thus  Occom's  wisdom  and  courage 
were  rewarded.  Doubtless  also  this  result  was  partly  due 
to  Governor  George  Clinton,  who  was  very  friendly  toward 
Occom's  purposes,  and  did  all  he  could  to  further  them,  even 
after  this  Indian  was  in  his  unmarked  grave. 

The  act  of  1789  had  also  provided  that  this  tract  should  be 
called  Brothertown,  and  should  remain  for  "the  cultivation, 
improvement  and  use "  of  the  New  England  Indians,  "  but 
wdthout  any  power  of  alienation  or  right  of  leasing  the  same 
lands  or  any  part  thereof,  for  any  longer  term  than  ten  years 
and  without  any  power  of  granting  such  leases  where  there 
shall  be  any  subsisting  lease  including  the  same  lands."  Here 
was  another  source  of  trouble.  Occom  had  not  been  able  to 
prevent  New  England  Indians  of  the  baser  sort  from  attaching 
themselves  to  the  Brothertown  tribe.  Some  came  who  be- 
longed to  other  tribes  than  those  to  whom  the  land  had  been 
given.  These  built  their  huts  on  the  tract,  claiming  equal 
rights  with  the  founders.  They  did  not  recognize  the  tribal 
authority,  and  as  yet  the  state  had  not  constituted  any  town 
government.  Since  the  voluntary  organization  of  1785  the 
tribe  had  not  met  to  choose  officers.^  The  original  five 
trustees  still  acted — Roger  Wauby,  David  Fowler,  Elijah 
Wampy,  John  Tuhie  and  Abraham  Simons.  However,  on 
the  loth  of  October,  1790,  a  town-meeting  was  held,  Occom 
being  present.     After  an   unsuccessful  attempt  to  choose  new 

iLmuso/N.  v.,  Reprint,  III,  70. 

^  Confi.  Hist.  Soc,  /ndian  Papers,  Lett.  Occom  to  Ezra  L'Hommedieu. 


288  SAA/SOA^  OCCOM 

trustees,  it  was  decided  that  the  old  board  should  continue 
until  the  March  following,  and  should  consult  and  act  for  the 
good  of  the  town  meanwhile.  They  met  in  November,  but 
Elijah  Wampy  was  found  to  be  opposed  to  the  plans  of  the 
others,  who  were  Occom's  particular  friends.  Wampy  drew 
up  a  petition,  which  was  signed  largely  by  the  interlopers, 
and  this  was  sent  to  the  General  Assembly,  a  Martha's  Vine- 
yard Indian  named  Puichaker  being  their  messenger.  The 
act  of  1789  was  understood  to  allow  leasing  for  a  period  of 
ten  years,  and  the  Wampy  party  began  at  once  to  make  such 
leases  to  the  whites  who  were  coming  in  as  settlers.^  New 
farms  were  then  taken  up  by  these  Indians,  which  also  in 
some  cases  were  leased  to  the  whites.  This  was  extremely 
demoralizing.  It  put  a  premium  on  fraud,  and  was  disloyal  to 
the  purposes  of  the  town.  Had  it  not  been  for  the  mercifully 
slow  progress  of  white  immigration,  the  greater  part  of  the 
tract  would  have  been  leased  out.  Occom  was  distressed,  but 
not  utterly  discouraged.  He  also  wrote  a  petition  which  he 
carried  to  the  General  Assembly  by  the  authority  of  the  other 
trustees.  There  he  was  known  to  many  and  had  influence. 
His  "  perigrinations  "  were  in  evidence.  The  result  was  the 
passage  of  "An  Act  for  the  relief  of  the  Indians  residing  in 
Brothcrtown  and  New  Stockbridge,"  dated  February  21,  1791.'' 
In  this  bill  the  ideas  of  Occom  as  to  Indian  town  government 
were  to  some  extent  embodied.  It  provided  for  an  annual 
town-meeting,  the  first  Tuesday  in  April,  at  which  all  male 
Indians  twenty-one  years  of  age  should  choose  a  clerk  to 
preside  and  keep  the  records,  a  marshal  and  three  trustees, 
the  latter  "by  and  with  the  consent  of  the  Mayor  of  the  City 
of   Albany  for   the  time  being."     These   trustees  were  given 

c  Some  of  these  leases  are  extant.  We  have  one  from  James  Toxcoit  to  Abraliam 
Oaks,  and  have  seen  several  others. 

"'  Laws  of  N.  K,  Reprint,  111,  212.  The  Assembly  by  a  resolution,  February  24, 
1 79 1,  advanced  £15  for  the  payment  of  Occom's  expenses  in  appearing  in  behalf  of 
the  Brothertown  and  New  Stockbridge  Indians. 


THE    TRIALS   OF  OCCOA/'S  LAST  DA  YS  289 

power  to  lay  out  lots  as  they  should  think  necessary  to  the 
Indian  families ;  to  lease  a  tract  not  exceeding  640  acres,  the 
rents  thereof  to  be  applied  for  maintaining  a  minister  and  free 
school;  to  bring  actions  for  trespass  against  any  whites;  and 
to  adjudicate  cases  of  trespass  or  debt  among  the  Indians 
themselves,  and  lev^y  for  the  judgment  in  a  sum  not  to  exceed 
twenty  shillings. 

Meanwhile  the  leasing  of  home  lots  had  been  going  on,  and 
before  Occom's  return  about  2,000  acres  had  been  taken  by 
the  whites.  A  fine  grove  of  pine  and  a  cedar  swamp,  particu- 
larly valuable  to  the  Indians  and  designed  for  town  use,  had 
been  disposed  of.  Occom  was  not  wholly  opposed  to  ten-year 
leases;  but  as  their  lands  had  never  been  surveyed  he  thought 
such  action  was  premature  and  should  always  have  the  con- 
sent of  the  town  authorities.  When  the  time  appointed  in 
the  above  act  for  organizing  the  town  government  came,  they 
were  so  demoralized  that  they  could  not  elect  trustees  as  pro- 
vided. Here  was  a  new  difficulty.  The  time  having  passed 
they  thought  nothing  could  be  done.  Again  Occom  appealed 
to  the  General  Assembly,  and  that  body,  April  12,  1792,  re- 
enacted  the  former  measure,  appointing  the  first  Tuesday  in 
May  following  for  town  organization,  and  authorized  the 
forcible  ejectment  of  the  whites.^  In  this  act  the  trustees  were 
called  peacemakers,  and  the  title  was  certainly  appropriate. 
Neither  measure,  however,  had  distinctly  invalidated  the  ten- 
year  leases.  The  whites  crowded  in  and  urged  on  the  VVampy 
party  in  opposition.  Occom  became  unpopular  with  the 
white  settlers.  The  Oneidas  had  not  forgiven  him  for  main- 
taining his  rights  against  them  so  successfully.  He  had  also 
incurred  the  displeasure  of  John  Sergeant  and  his  friends 
among  the  Stockbridge  Indians.  He  was  surrounded  by 
enemies.  Only  those  who  had  entered  into  his  long-cherished 
plans,  the  intelligent,  substantial  and  more  religious   Indians 

^Laws  of  N.  v.,  Reprint,  III,  379. 


290  SAJ/SOJV  OCCOM 

of  Brothertown,  who  saw  that  he  w^as  fighting  in  their  behalf, 
and  David  Fowler  foremost  among  them,  adhered  to  his 
leadership.  His  experiment  in  Indian  town  gpvernment  had 
not  been  so  far  a  signal  success.  Now  in  his  sixty-ninth  year 
— an  old  man  before  his  time,  who  like  a  hemlock  had  endured 
many  storms  and  outlived  its  usefulness — his  courage  may 
have  failed  him.  A  greater  Moses  than  he  had  become  dis- 
couraged at  the  rebellious  hearts  of  his  people.  So  in  the 
winter  of  1791,  hoping  to  find  some  peace  among  the  Stock- 
bridge  branch  of  his  flock,  he  removed  over  the  hill  westward 
to  Tuscarora.  His  work  was  done,  and  there  he  died  on  the 
fourteenth  of  July,  1792. 

Let  us  follow  to  its  conclusion  this  land  war  of  the  Brother- 
town  Indians,  before  we  consider  the  circumstances  of  Occom's 
death  and  burial.  The  excitement  was  somewhat  allayed  by 
the  loss  of  their  leader,  but  the  leasing  went  on.  In  the 
course  of  two  years  the  Indians  came  to  see  that  Occom  was 
right.  Even  Elijah  Wampy  seems  to  have  repented  of  his 
action.  Three  peacemakers  were  chosen — David  Fowler, 
John  Tuhie  and  John  Paul — and  these  set  about  considering 
what  could  be  done.  The  whites,  too,  were  troubled,  having 
only  ten-year  leases  and  some  uncertainty  as  to  them.  They 
appointed  a  committee  consisting  of  Asa  Hamlin,  James 
Cowing,  Jr.,  Ithmar  Coe,  Simon  Hubbard  and  Solomon  Kel- 
logg, who  petitioned  for  legislative  action  February  14,  1794.^ 
In  their  statement  of  the  case  they  said  that  two  hundred  farms 
had  been  located  on  the  tract,  and  one  hundred  and  fifty  fam- 
ilies were  settled  on  them.  A  sawmill  and  grist-mill  had  also 
been  erected.  But  from  insecurity  of  title  they  could  make  no 
improvements,  and  had  no  church  or  schools.  On  the  seventh 
of  October  the  Indian  peacemakers  addressed  a  complaint  to 
Governor  Clinton  against  Bender  Webber,  Charles  Wilbor, 
Isaac   Curtis,    Nathaniel  Lowring  and    Samuel   Lewis,  stating 

"^N.  Y.  Arch.,  Assembly  Papers^  hid.  ^Z".,  1783-1810,  95,  97. 


THE    TRIALS   OF   OCCOAPS  LAST  DAYS 


291 


that  they  were  trespassers  on  their  lands.  This  petition  was 
signed  by  the  peacemakers,  and  Samuel  Adams,  Roger  Wobby, 
David  Fowler,  Jun.,  Jeremiah  Tuhie,  Samuel  Scipio,  Samuel 
Brusheill,  Elijih  Wimpey,  John  Skeesuck,  Christopher  Skee- 
suck,  and  Elijah  Wimpey,  Jun.  1°  A  letter  which  accompanied 
the  petition  recited  their  grievances,  and  had,  in  addition  to 
the  above  names,  the  following  signatures  :  Obadiah  Scippio, 
George  Paul,  Joseph  VVoby,  Isaac  Wobby,  Oliver  Peter,  Solo- 
mon Cochegan,  George  Crosley,  James  Waucus,  Ephraim  Pha- 
raoh, Frederick  Peters,  Nhamon  Wobby,  Henry  Davies,  Amos 
Hutton,  and  Thomas  Pechorker.  These  were  the  principal 
men  of  Brothertown.  Governor  Clinton  took  immediate  ac- 
tion, and  ordered  Colonel  William  Colbrath,  the  sheriff  of 
Herkimer  count}^,  to  eject  the  trespassers,  which  had  been  au- 
thorized by  the  act  of  1792.^^  Esquires  Hugh  White  and 
Moses  Foot,  who  were  among  the  principal  men  in  the  county, 
interceded  for  them.  The  result  was,  that  the  ejectment  was 
delayed  and  the  General  Assembly  took  the  whole  matter  into 
consideration.^^  The  decision  was  .favorable  to  the  Indians. 
It  was  a  conspicuous  example  of  justice,  the  most  so  of  any 
we  have  met  with  in  the  history  of  Indian  land  claims, — a 
lasting  honor  to  the  state  of  New  York.  The  verdict  was  em- 
bodied in  "  An  Act  relative  to  Lands  in  Brothertown,"  passed 
March  31,  1795.^'^  This  constituted  Samuel  Jones,  Ezra 
L'Hommedieu  and  Zina  Hitchcock  commissioners  to  exam- 
ine into  and  settle  all  matters  relating  to  Brothertown  lands. 
They  were  authorized  to  set  off  a  tract  of  not  less  than  six 
thousand  nor  more  than  ten  thousand  acres  for  the  use  of 
the  Indians,  dividing  the  same  into  lots,  and  apportioning 
them  to  the  several  families,  notwithstanding  any  leases 
to    whites    resident    thereon.      The    remainder    of    the    lands 

10  A^.  Y.  Arch.,  Letts.  07i  Indian  Affairs,  1 785-1825,  2. 
"  A^.  Y.  Arch.,  Assembly  Papers,  Ind.  Aff.,  1783-1810,  263. 
"^"^  Ibid.,  pp.  245,  251,  263,  265,  269. 
^^Laws  of  N.  Y,  Reprint,  III,  585. 


292 


SAMSON  OCCOM 


were  to  be  sold  to  the  lessees,  the  mean  price  being  not 
less  than  sixteen  shillings  per  acre,  allowing  for  improve- 
ments, if  they  were  removed.  They  were  authorized  to 
take  mortgages  in  payment.  These  commissioners  performed 
their  duties  in  the  summer  of  1795,  making  a  census  of 
the  Indians  by  families,  giving  the  age  of  each,  and  as- 
signing lots.  A  survey  was  made  by  Garret  Cluett.^''  Of 
the  24.052  acres  in  the  tract,  9,390  were  set  off  in  149  lots  to 
the  Indians,  and  the  balance  sold  to  the  white  lessees.  They 
received  in  cash  iTgy,  2s,  and  in  mortgages  at  six  per  cent., 
payable  on  demand  after  the  first  Tuesday  of  July,  1805, 
;^i5,2i7,  4s.  The  state  afterwards  took  the  mortgages,  and 
the  whole  amount  was  invested  as  the  Brothertown  fund. 

One  difficulty  was  encountered  by  the  commissioners.  They 
found  it  hard  to  decide  as  to  the  Indians  who  were  entitled  to 
land,  and  recommended  in  their  report,  February  18,  1796, 
the  passage  of  an  act  relating  to  the  matter.  This  was  done 
on  the  fourth  of  March  follovving.^^  Thus  ended  the  contest 
of  the  New  England  Indians  for  their  rights  in  the  land  given 
to  them  more  than  twenty  years  before. 

Samson  Occom  died  in  the  battle ;  but  the  victory  was  his. 
For  years  the  income  of  this  fund  was  expended  by  their  su- 
perintendents for  the  benefit  of  his  people.  It  provided  many 
industrial  advantages,  secured  to  them  the  privileges  of  educa- 
tion, ministered  to  their  necessities,  and  its  benefits  followed 
them  in  their  second  emigration,  and  are  traceable  to  this  day. 
Thus  he  who  had  led  them  forth  into  their  promised  land,  to 
whom  more  than  any  other  the  maintenance  of  their  claim  was 
due,  blessed  his  people  after  he  had  departed  from  them. 

The  last  days  of  Samson  Occom's  life,  as  we  have  stated, 
were  passed  at  Tuscarora.     He  had  located   a   home    lot    at 

"^^Map  and  Field  Book,  Surveyor  General's  Office,  Albany;  Rec.  Sufi.  Brother 
town  Indians. 

^^Laws  of  N.  F.,  Reprint,  III,  655. 


THE    TRIALS  OF   OCCOM'S  LAST  DA  YS  293 

Brothertown  several  years  before  he  removed  his  family 
thither  from  Mohegan.  His  parishioners,  he  notes  in  his 
diary,  came  in  August,  1787,  to  clear  some  land  for  him. 
This  lot  was  undoubtedly  No.  10  in  the  survey  of  1795,  which 
was  then  assigned  by  the  superintendents  to  Anthony  Paul  in 
accordance  with  their  plan  of  retaining  the  locations  of  early 
settlers  in  their  families.  Occom  built  there  a  log  house,  suf- 
ficient for  the  humble  needs  of  his  family.  Most  of  his  chil- 
dren had  grown  up.  Benoni,  Theodosia  and  Lemuel  may 
have  come  with  him  to  Brothertown  in  1789.  Andrew  Gifford, 
a  youth  of  fifteen  years,  and  Sally,  his  youngest,  certainly  did, 
the  latter  dying  before  her  father.  It  will  be  remembered  that 
the  center  of  the  town  in  1785  was  located  at  David  Fowler's 
place  on  the  hill,  lot  105.  This  was  the  actual  center  in  very 
early  days — the  location  of  1775.  Roger  Wauby  was  three 
miles  west  of  this — outside  the  bounds  of  the  later  town.^^ 
Elijah  Wampy  was  half  a  mile  to  the  northwest ;  Abraham 
Simons  a  mile  to  the  northeast ;  John  Tuhie  east  at  the  foot 
of  the  hill  and  next  south  of  Occom.  The  younger  men  after- 
wards took  up  lots  in  the  valley,  Elijah  Wampy,  Jr.,  and  David 
Fowler,  Jr.,  being  located  on  lots  15  and  16,  where  the  village 
of  Deansville  now  has  its  center.  Therefore,  as  David  Fowler's 
place  was  the  early  location  where  they  first  worshiped,  be- 
ing the  eastern  section  of  Occom's  Stockbridge  and  Brother- 
town  parish,  it  was  supposed,  before  the  place  was  visited  b) 
the  writer,  that  there  they  established  a  burial-place  in  accord- 
ance with  their  tribal  notions,  as  well  as  the  custom  they  knew 
so  well  in  New  England.  Death  went  with  them  into  the  wil- 
derness. On  the  nineteenth  of  October,  1786,  their  council 
at  Oneida  was  interrupted  by  news  of  the  death  of  "  Old  Uncle 
Cornelius  "  [Hannable  ?] ,  the  oldest  man  in  the  town.  The  next 
day,  toward  night,  they  assembled  at  the  house  of  mourning, 
where  Occom  says,  "  I  delivered  a  short  discourse  .     .     .  and 

^'^  N.  Y.  Arch.,  Assembly  Papers,  Ind.  Aff.,  1 783-1 S 10,  105. 


294  SAMSON  OCCOM 

from  thence  [we]  went  to  the  grove,  and  we  finished  bury- 
ing after  sunset."  During  his  absence  the  following  winter 
there  were  several  deaths — Jacob  Fowler  being  one.  When 
Abraham  Simons  died  they  also  buried  him  in  "  the  grove." 
Evidently  they  had  then  a  tribal  burial-place,  presumably  near 
the  center.  Occom's  young  daughter  died.  She  would  have  been 
buried  there.  While  he  was  away  on  his  mission  to  the  Gen- 
eral Assembly  in  the  spring  of  1791,  one  of  his  grandchildren 
died,  probably  one  of  the  Paul  family.  Samuel  Kirkland 
makes  this  entry  in  his  diary  under  March  15,  1791  :  "I  have 
now  returned  from  Brothertown,  where  I  have  attended  the 
funeral  of  a  grand  child  of  Mr.  Occom — the  whole  village  as- 
sembled on  the  occasion — it  has  been  a  very  solemn  &  affect- 
ing meeting — discoursed  from  Mark  10:27."  Already  then, 
before  Occom's  death,  even  if  the  tribe  had  no  common  burial- 
place,  the  large  circle  of  his  kindred,  numbering  not  less  than 
thirty  in  1792,  so  loyal  to  his  ministry  and  leadership,  would 
have  claimed  a  sacred  acre  from  the  forest  for  their  dead. 

The  house  which  David  Fowler  built  in  1775 — ^^^^  ^^^^  ^^ 
that  wilderness — has  long  since  been  torn  down  by  the  fingers 
of  time.  Some  of  the  timbers  of  his  hallowed  barn  remain  in 
a  later  structure.  The  farm  is  now  owned  by  Mr.  Andrew  H. 
Wier,  who  bought  it  of  Mr.  Alonzo  G.  Miller.  The  white  man 
draws  water  from  the  well  the  Indian  pioneer  dug.  On  this 
place,  only  a  quarter  of  a  mile  southward  from  the  house,  in 
the  edge  of  the  wood,  which  was  a  ''grove"  a  hundred  years 
ago,  there  is  an  Indian  burial-ground.  The  woodsman's  sled 
has  broken  off  the  tops  of  some  rude  headstones.  Brother- 
town  Indians  are  still  living  who  remember  when  the  tribe 
made  their  burials  in  that  spot,  and  they  say  this  continued 
down  to  about  1812.^'     Its  distance  from  the  more  populous 

^"  There  were  four  other  Indian  bmial-places  in  Brothertown  later.  One  was  at 
the  foot  of  the  hill  where  the  present  cemetery  is ;  another  was  near  the  center  of 
Deansville,  north  of  the  highway  and  between  the  railroad  and  the  river,  called  the 


THE    TRIALS  OF   OCCOAPS  LAST  DAYS  295 

district  in  the  valley  eastward,  finally  led  to  its  abandgnment. 
This  digression  will  prepare  us  to  appreciate  the  conditions  in 
1792,  and  locate  the  burial-place  of  the  Brothertown   minister. 

The  exact  date  of  Occom's  removal  from  his  old  home  to 
Tuscarora  is  not  known.  A  young  Stockbridge  Indian,  John 
Quinney,  who  was  at  Orange  Dale  Academy,  wrote  him, 
January  26,  1792,  that  one  Samuel  Littleman  had  arrived 
there  on  the  twenty-first,  and  had  informed  him  that  his  min- 
ister "was  about  to  move  with  his  family  to  our"  village, 
which  he  had  long  wished  for."^^  This  letter  was  addressed 
to  Occom  at  Muhheconnuck.  He  removed,  therefore,  about 
the  middle  of  January,  and  into  a  house  about  a  mile  from 
Tuscarora  village,  probably  owned  by  some  of  his  friends. 
Perhaps  he  did  not  intend  to  remain  there  permanently.  A 
little  land  would  have  been  sufficient  for  his  purposes,  for  he 
had  returned  to  his   old  trade  of  manufacturing  woodenware. 

There  are  two  accounts  of  Occom's  death.  One  is  given  us 
in  Prime's  History  of  Long  Island,  and  in  Sprague's  Annals. 
It  professes  to  have  been  "prepared  from  the  recital  of  his 
wife."     We  quote  it  in  full : 

For  some  time  he  had  a  presentiment  that  his  death  was  near.  As  he 
accustomed  himself,  in  his  earlier  life,  to  the  manufacture  of  pails  and 
cooper-ware,  he  still  devoted  what  strength  he  had,  when  leisure  permitted, 
to  the  same  employment.  One  day  he  observed  to  his  wife,  that  he  must 
finish  a  churn  soon,  that  he  had  commenced,  or  he  might  not  live  to  do  it. 
He  went  out  to  his  work,  a  little  distance  from  the  house,  finished  the 
churn   and  started  to  return.     His  wife  observed   him  crossing  a  run  of 

"  Dugway  "  burial-place  ;  the  third  'was  n^^ar  John  Tuhie's  place  and  the  fourth  on  the 
the  farm  of  Asa  Dick.  There  may  have  been  others.  Our  interviews  with  aged  In- 
dians—Elias  Dick,  James  Simons,  J.  C.  Fowler,  Rebecca  Johnson,  and  Hannah 
Commuck — leave  no  doubt  as  to  the  fact  that  all  the  early  burials  were  on  the  hill. 
They  name  a  number  whose  deaths  occurred  in  their  youth,  and  variously  estimate 
the  graves  there  from  seventj'-five  to  one  hundred.  Here,  doubtless,  Jacob  Fowler 
was  buried,  and  all  who  died  in  Occom's  time.  David  Fowler  and  Hannah  Garret 
were  among  the  last. 

^®  Conn.  Hist.  Soc,  Indiati  Papers. 


296  SAMSON  OCCOM 

water  near  the  house  upon  a  pole;  lookhig  towards  him  again,  a  few  min- 
utes after,  she  saw  that  he  had  fallen  and  going  to  him  she  found  him  dead.^^ 

The  Other  account  was  printed  in  the  Connecticut  Gazette 
of  New  London,  August  2,  1792,  and  was  doubtless  sent  by 
messenger  to  Occom's  kindred  at  Mohegan.     It  is  as  follows  : 

Died  at  New  Stockbridge,  in  the  vicinit}^  of  Oneida,  in  the  69th  year  of 
his  age,  the  Rev.  Samson  Occom,  in  a  very  sudden  and  unexpected  manner. 
About  a  week  before  he  died  he  complained  to  his  wife  of  a  very  uncom- 
mon and  distressing  pain  in  his  vitals,  which  occasioned  a  faintness,  but  it 
was  soon  over,  A  few  hours  before  his  death  the  same  disorder  came  on 
again,  but  as  before  soon  left  him — after  which  he  eat  as  hearty  a  dinner  as 
usual,  told  his  wife  he  would  ride  to  one  of  his  neighbors  and  get  him  to 
accompany  him  to  a  cedar  swamp  in  search  of  some  timber  he  was  want- 
ing. His  wife  in  vain  remonstrated  against  it;  he  went,  and  just  before 
they  came  to  the  swamp  he  told  the  man  he  must  rest,  asked  for  water, 
desired  the  man  to  call  for  help,  which  he  did,  he  then  took  off  his  coat  and 
as  the  man  returned,  he  said,  I  have  done — and  appeared  inclined  to  sleep — 
asked  his  friend  to  ease  him  down,  which  done,  he  folded  his  hands  across 
his  breast  and  expired  in  a  few  minutes.  On  Sunday  the  15th  inst.  his 
remains  were  decently  interred — pij-evious  to  which  the  Rev.  Mr.  Kirkland 
preached  his  funeral  sermon  from  Matt,  xxiv :  44.  Upwards  of  300 
Indians,  from  different  tribes,  attended.  Mr.  Occom  was  of  the  Mohegan 
tribe  of  Indians  and  removed  with  a  number  of  that  tribe  a  few  years  since 
to  Oneida.2o 

The  latter  being  a  contemporary  account,  and  more  natural 
in  its  circumstances,  is  very  likely  the  true  one.  Neither  of 
them,  however,  states  the  place  of  burial.  Rev.  John  Sergeant 
was  absent  from  New  Stockbridge  at  the  time,  or  his  diary 
might  inform  us  on  this  point.  But  the  manuscript  journal 
of  Samuel  Kirkland  gives  the  following  account  of  the  event, 
under  date  of  July  i6th: 

Last  Saturday  evening,  about  10  o'clock,  a  n>essenger  came  to  me  with 
the  news  of  Mr.  Occum's  death  at  Tuscarora,  This  was  very  sudden  and 
unexpected.  I  was  requested  to  preach  his  funeral  sermon  on  Lord's  day 
at  3  o'clock  P.  AL     I  agreed  to  be  there  seasonably,  after  attending  divine 

I'J  Prime's  Hist,  of  Long  Island^  p.  112  ;  Sprague's  Annals,  III,  194. 
2°  Conn.   Hist.  Soc,  Conn.  Gaz.,  Aug.  2,  1792.     Cf.  Conn.  Coiirant  and  Am.  Mer- 
cury, July  30,  1792. 


THE    TRIALS  OF  OCCOM'S  LAST  DA  YS  297 

service  in  the  morning  early  at  Kanonwalohale.  The  Indians  were  so 
alarmed  at  the  sudden  death  of  Mr.  Occum  that  they  began  to  collect  at 
Tuscarora  from  the  various  settlements  very  early  in  the  morning.  By  a 
mistake  of  the  messenger  they  were  led  to  conceive  that  the  first  meeting 
would  be  held  there  instead  of  at  Kanonwalohale;  as  many  of  the  Indians 
came  the  distance  of  ten  miles.  After  an  exhortation  and  prayer  at  the 
house  of  the  deceased,  we  moved  about  a  mile  to  a  bower  near  the  center 
of  the  town,  for  the  sake  of  convenience,  there  being  no  house  sufficiently 
large  to  contain  one  half  of  the  Indians  who  were  assembled  on  the  occa- 
sion. I  discoursed  from  Math.  24.  44  in  both  the  Indian  and  English  lan- 
guages, that  all  might  understand  me  on  that  solemn  occasion.  The  Indians 
appeared  to  be  struck  with  unusual  awe  and  reverence  of  Him  who  is  the 
Lord  of  life  and  death.  In  the  evening  attended  a  conference  with  a  small 
number  till  near  midnight. 

Several  later  references  are  made  in  Kirkland's  journals  to 
Occom's  death,  which  indicate  that  a  profound  impression 
was  left  among  the  Indians.  During  the  following  week,  he 
had  "various  conferences  with  Indians  of  different  tribes  and 
parties,  principally  on  the  subject  of  Mr.  Cecum's  death  as  an 
alarming  and  instructive  providence."  On  the  following  Sab- 
bath, he  preached  at  Kanonwalohale  sermons  from  Psalm 
90:  12,  and  Phil,  i:  21-24,  appropriate  to  the  event.  The 
assembly  "seemed  to  melt  into  tenderness  with  many  sighs 
and  tears."  At  the  request  of  the  Stockbridge  Indians,  in 
the  absence  of  Mr.  Sergeant^  he  preached  at  Tuscarora  a 
week  later.  He  says  there  was  a  large  gathering  of  Brother- 
town,  Oriske,  Stockbridge,  Oneida  and  Tuscarora  Indians. 
"  Many  came  with  a  view  and  in  expectation  of  hearing  not 
only  a  general,  but  a  particular  and  minute  character  given 
of  Mr.  Occum.  The  divisions,  however,  among  the  Indians 
were  such  that  I  thought  it  not  prudent  to  attempt  it  and  in- 
deed was  advised  to  omit  it.     Discoursed  from  Job  2i:^\  12,  13." 

As  to  Samson  Occom's  burial,  there  seems  to  be  but  one 
interpretation  to  be  put  upon  Kirkland's  account.  If  the 
burial  had  been  at  Tuscarora,  they  would  have  borne  the 
body,  after  the  service,  to  the  grave,  and  he  would  have 
included  a  mention  of  it.     They  moved  to  the  bower  only  to 


298  SAJfSO.V  OCCOAf 

find  a  convenient  auditorium.  Evidently  the  body  was  not 
then  to  be  buried.  Many  were  there  who  had  reason  to  mourn 
the  death  of  this  renowned  Indian — the  minister,  his  friend, 
of  whose  mission  he  had  been  an  inspiration  in  youth,  the 
On.eidas,  to  whom  he  had  carried  the  gospel  thirty  years 
before,  the  pupils  who  had  been  taught  in  his  wigwam  at 
Montauk,  the  subjects  of  his  fervid  ministry  in  the  Indian 
settlements  of  New  England,  and,  above  all,  his  own  beloved 
and  misguided  people;  but  his  own  kindred  were  there — a 
goodly  company  of  them,  and  the  burial  was  their  service.  A 
Mohegan  was  never  willingly  allowed  to  rest  away  from  his 
own — from  their  homes  and  their  graves  !  So  it  must  have 
been  that  they  returned  to  the  house  of  mourning  from  the 
place  where  they  had  found  a  cathedral  under  the  arches  of 
the  woodland.  As  the  summer's  sun  was  declining  in  the 
west,  at  their  customary  hour,  the  body  of  this  Indian  Moses 
w^as  lifted,  not  by  angels,  but  by  the  strong  arms  of  his  faith- 
ful friends,  the  purest  blood  of  the  New  England  aborigines, 
and  borne  up  the  hill,  by  the  way  they  had  often  gone,  and 
laid  beside  his  own  dust — a  king  like  those  of  the  Scriptures 
to  rest  in  the  inheritance  of  David  ! 

The  unmarked  grave  was  thus  in  the  keeping  of  Samson 
Occom's  brother  beloved  and  loyal  friend,  David  Fowler. 
Time  has  dealt  ruthlessly  with  that  consecrated  acre.  Doubt- 
less the  last  fifty  years  would  have  swept  away  all  traces  of 
its  existence  had  it  not- been  that  the  descendants  of  David 
Fowler  and  Hannah  Garrett,  before  they  joined  the  w^estward 
pilgrimage  of  the  race,  long  after  their  deaths,  raised  a  white 
marble  slab  to  their  memory,  whereon  the  wanderer  in  that 
woodland  may  read  : 

David  Fowler 

died  March  31,  1807.     Aet 

72  years 

Hannah  wife  of 

David  Fowler  died 

Aug.  181 1.     Aet.  64  years 


CHAPTER  XVI 

INDIAN    TOWN    GOVERNMENT 
1785-1842 

The  town  government,  which  the  Brothertown  Indians  had 
known  in  New  England,  afforded  an  opportunity  for  individual 
independence  which  was  very  pleasing  to  the  Indian  nature. 
Those  who  had  come  to  Oneida  had  been  emancipated  from 
the  sachem's  tyrannical  authority.  Quite  naturally,  they  went 
to  the  extreme  of  individualism,  and  from  this  arose  many  of 
their  early  troubles.  In  time,  however,  they  settled  down, 
and  their  town  went  on  as  well  as  is  generally  the  case  in  new 
communities. 

Some  of  these  Indians  from  Farmington,  as  they  were  about 
to  remove,  petitioned  the  General  Assembly  for  a  copy  of  the 
statutes  of  Connecticut,  on  the  ground  that  they  were  expected 
to  observe  laws  of  which  they  were  ignorant.^  Their  request 
was  granted,  and  doubtless  this  was  the  volume  which  they 
carried  into  the  wilderness  and  used  as  the  basis  of  town 
regulations.  We  know  that  their  intent  was  to  establish  the 
ancient  Connecticut  town.  At  their  first  meeting,  even  in 
1785,  they  chose  "fence-viewers"  when  there  was  not  a  pair 
of  bars  for  many  miles  around.  Their  early  purpose,  however, 
was  modified  on  account  of  their  troubles  by  the  authorities  of 
the  state  of  New  York.  The  act  passed  by  the  General  As- 
sembly, March  4,  1796,  set  off  their  one  hundred  and  forty- 
nine  lots  from  the  town  of  Paris,  and  provided  finally  for 
Indian  town  government.     It  authorized  the  appointment,  by 

*  Con?t.  Arch.,  Indians,  II,  195. 
299 


300  SAMSON  OCCOM 

the  governor  and  council,  of  three  commissioners,  known  as 
the  superintendents  of  the  Brothertown  Indians,  who  were  to 
determine  what  persons  were  entitled  to  rights,  permanently 
assign  lots,  divide  the  land  of  deceased  Indians  among  their 
heirs,  advise  as  to  the  expenditure  of  the  income  of  the  in- 
vested funds,  maintain  a  school  among  them,  prevent  the 
illegal  sale  of  spirituous  liquors,  and  exercise  a  general  super- 
vision over  their  affairs.  The  appointment  of  an  attorney  was 
also  authorized  to  defend  their  rights  in  the  courts.  Accord- 
ingly, the  following  were  chosen  superintendents,  March  26, 
1796:  William  Floyd,  Thomas  Eddy  and  Edmund  Prior,  and 
Joseph  Kirkland  became  their  attorney."  William  Floyd  vis- 
ited them  in  June,  1796,  to  examine  into  their  condition  and 
needs.  The  record-book,  which  contains  the  legislation  relat- 
ing to  the  Brothertown  Indians  and  the  subsequent  proceed- 
ings of  the  superintendents,  is  still  preserved  by  the  tribe  at 
Brothertown,  Wisconsin. 

So  much  of  their  government,  therefore,  was  taken  from  the 
Indians,  but  in  its  main  features  the  town  was  ordered  by  the 
voters  therein.  The  above  act  authorized  the  appointment  by 
the  governor  and  council  of  five  Indians  as  "  Keepers  of  the 
Peace,"  or  "Peacemakers,"  who  should  hold  office  during  the 
pleasure  of  the  council.  They,  or  any  three  of  them,  were 
empowered  to  hold  a  court  at  Brothertown  on  the  first  Mon- 
day of  each  month,  and  hear  and  determine  all  disputes  or 
controversies  concerning  debts  and  trespasses,  where  the  sum 
due  or  damages  sustained  did  not  exceed  five  pounds.  All 
violations  of  the  town  by-laws  were  to  be  tried  in  this  peace- 
makers' court,  and  a  proper  fine  imposed,  to  be  collected  by 

-  The  following  also  served  as  superintendents  during  the  town's  existence:  Henry 
McNiel,  Thomas  Hart,  Bill  Smith,  George  Brayton,  John  Murray,  Jr.,  Ashahel  Cur- 
tis, Uri  Doolittle,  Joseph  Stebbins,  William  Root,  Nathan  Davis,  Elijah  Wilson, 
Austin  Wygatt,  Samuel  L.  Hubbard  and  Samuel  Comstock,  William  Hotchkiss  was 
their  attorney  about  i8r2.  An  act  of  May  25,  1841  abolished  this  office,  and  reduced 
the  superintendents  to  one.  ' 


INDIAN  TOWN  GOVERNMENT  301 

due  process,  failing  which,  upon  complaint  of  the  peacemakers, 
the  attorney  could  imprison  for  thirty  days.  They  were  also 
constituted  commissioners  of  highways,  which  were  to  be  four 
rods  wide,  with  power  to  lay  out,  alter  or  direct  the  repair  of 
the  same.  An  annual  town-meeting  was  to  be  held  the  first 
Tuesday  in  April,  at  which  the  senior  peacemaker  should 
preside,  and  in  which  all  males  twenty-one  years  of  age  and 
upwards  should  be  voters.  They  were  to  elect  a  town  clerk, 
two  overseers  of  the  poor,  two  marshals,  and  so.  many  over- 
seers of  highways  as  should  be  thought  necessary.  On  their 
own  authority  they  also  elected  fence-viewers,  a  pound-keeper 
and  tithing-men,  whose  duty  it  was  to  give  notice  to  all  evil- 
doers in  the  form  of  a  complaint.  Moreover,  in  this  town- 
meeting  they  w^ere  to  enact  such  rules,  regulations  and  by-laws 
as  shouid  be  deemed  expedient  in  ordering  their  affairs.  In 
the  exercise  of  this  latter  privilege  we  shall  see  best  the  char- 
acter of  Indian  legislation. 

The  senior  peacemaker  appointed  under  this  act  was  David 
Fowler,  who  served  until  his  death  in  1807.  Two  of  his  asso- 
ciates also  held  office  until  they  died — John  Tuhie  in  181 1 
and  John  Skeesuck  in  1807.  The  others  were  Isaac  Wauby, 
afterwards  known  as  "  Elder  Wauby,"  and  Samuel  Scipio. 
On  the  fifteenth  of  May,  1796,  the  first  regular  town-meeting 
was  held  in  the  schoolhouse,  though  the  date  thereafter  was 
the  first  Tuesday  in  April,  as  provided.  Officers  were  then 
chosen,  and  David  Fowler,  Jr.,  the  babe  born  in  Samuel  Kirk- 
land's  hut  in  1767,  was  elected  town  clerk,  an  office  which  he 
held  until  1802.  The  "Town  Records  of  Brothertown,"  which 
he  and  his  successors  kept  with  commendable  care  until  there 
were  not  enough  Indians  remaining  in  the  town  to  fill  the 
offices,  are  an  interesting  memorial  of  Indian  civilization  alto- 
gether unique  in  American  history. 

The  laws  which  were  made  from  time  to  time  in  this  Indian 
town-meeting  had  largely  the  character  of  ordinances.     They 


302  SAMSO.V  OCCOM 

related  to  fences,  highways,  damage  by  dogs,  stray  cattle  and 
the  like  matters.  The  duties  of  town  officers  also  were  defined. 
It  was  ordered  that  any  one  elected  to  an  office  and  declining  to 
serve,  without  reasonable  excuse,  should  pay  a  fine  of  two  and 
a  half  dollars,  while  those  who  neglected  their  duties  were  to 
pay  twice  that  sum.  As  to  women,  the  widows  were  to  work 
on  the  roads,  or  at  any  other  public  business,  half  as  much  as 
the  men.  It  was  further  declared,  "That  it  shall  not  be  lawful 
by  the  authority  of  Broth ertown  that  any  woman  shall  be  per- 
mitted to  speak  that  has  causes  depending  in  the  Brothertown 
courts  without  asking  some  particular  question  or  she  shall 
apply  to  some  suitable  man  to  speak  in  her  behalf."  They 
made  stringent  laws  against  immorality,  profanity,  drunken- 
ness, theft,  extortion,  idleness,  neglect  of  children,  and  mar- 
riages with  persons  of  negro  blood.  A  person  who  should 
display  signs  of  intoxication  at  town-meeting  was  punished  as 
a  great  offender.  In  many  cases  the  penalty  was  a  confine- 
ment in  the  stocks,  though  we  do  not  know  that  they  employed 
this  mode  of  punishment.  Dancing  or  frolicking  on  Saturday 
or  Sunday  nights  was  forbidden.  It  was  unlawful  to  harbor 
or  conceal  a  fugitive  slave,  servant  or  apprentice.  The  follow- 
ing are  samples  of  the  laws  by  which  they  sought  to  secure 
the  order  and  decorum  of  Puritan  New  England  in  their 
Indian  community. 

There  shall  be  no  travelling,  servile  labouring  or  working  (works  of  neces- 
sity and  charity  excepted)  shooting,  fishing,  sporting,  playing,  horseracing, 
hunting  or  any  unlawful  exercise  or  pastime,  by  any  Person  or  Persons  on 
the  first  day  of  the  week  commonly  called  Sunday 

If  any  person  shall  permit  any  playing  with  Cards  or  dice  in  his  house,  or 
bet  win  or  lose  any  sum  of  money  at  such  play  and  shall  be'  thereof  con- 
victed, [he]  shall  forfeit  and  pay  a  sum  not  to  exceed  five  Dollars  or  under 
fifty  cents  for  every  such  offence,  one  half  to  the  complainant  and  the  other 
half- to  the  People  of  Brothertown. 

If  any  of  said  inhabitants  shall  Divulge  any  Report  about  any  of  said 
inhabitants  either  Male  or  Female,  and  shall  not  have  sufficient  proof  to 
support  what  he,  she  or  they  hath  Divulged  and  reported,  then  the  Divulger 


INDIAN  TOWN  GOVERNMENT  303 

or  Divulgers  shall  pay  a  fine  of  ten  shillings  for  every  Breach  of  this  bye-law 
if  found  so  convicted. 

If  anyof  the  inhabitants  shall  abuse  any  one  of  the  aforesaid  inhabitants 
in  their  Houses  or  at  any  other  place  either  by  foul  language  or  assault,  he 
or  they  shall  be  immediately  summoned  to  be  and  appear  before  the  Peace- 
makers of  said  town,  then  and  there  to  be  adjudged  before  them  as  the 
Case  may  be  in  their  judgment  to  decide  the  matter,  to  be  deemed  just  and 
equitable. 

Some  of  these  laws  were  in  substance  those  of  New  Eng- 
land at  the  time.  As  there  was  great  laxity  among  the  whites 
of  the  new  settlements  round  about  them  in  many  things  which 
the  Indians  endeavored  to  prohibit,  it  was  not  strange  that  some 
of  these  were  a  dead  letter.  But  they  made  honest  and  earn- 
est efforts  to  enforce  most  of  them,  and  in  some  measure  they 
succeeded.  The  peacemaker's  court  held  their  first  session 
the  first  Monday  in  September,  1797,  and  thereafter  at  inter- 
vals for  forty  years.  Their  extant  records  show  that  every 
manner  of  complaint  was  tried  before  them.  They  fined 
offenders  with  vigor.  There  is,  indeed,  no  reason  to  think 
that  the  town  was  not  well-governed.  More  and  more,  as  the 
years  went  by,  they  became  accustomed  to  their  town  govern- 
ment and  the  supervision  of  the  superintendents  was  less  and 
less  needed.  This  does  not  mean,  of  course,  that  Brother- 
town  was  free  from  the  common  vices  of  Indians,  but  it  was  as 
much  so  as  other  frontier  settlements  of  whites.  There  was 
some  drunkenness  and  the  consequent  ills.  Notable  cases 
which  made  a  great  impression  were  the  murder  of  Eunice 
Peters  by  her  husband,  George  Peters,  at  Rome,  February  24, 
1800,  and  the  killing  of  Joseph  Tuhie  by  John  Tuhie,  2d, 
May  I,  1817.3 

One  object  of  the  emigration  had  been  to  make  of  these 
Indians  an  agricultural  people.  How  did  they  succeed  in  this 
respect?  The  assignment  of  1795  located  most  of  the  fami- 
lies on   their   original  claims.     These   they  had   cleared  to  a 

3  Jones'  Amials  of  Oneida  County^  pp.  43,  44,  96, 


304  SAMSON  OCCOM 

ccy;isiderable  extent.  Barns  had  been  built.  They  had  in  a 
short  time  stock  of  all  kinds  and  enclosed  fields.  On  the 
twenty-sixth  of  September,  1799,  Brothertown  was  visited  by 
Timothy  Dwight.  He  had  a  strong  inclination  to  see  civilized 
Indian  life,  and  had  been  told  that  it  might  probably  be  seen 
at  Brothertown.  He  gives  us  the  following  account  of  their 
condition  : 

The  settlement  is  formed  on  the  declivity  of  a  hill,  running  from  north  to 
south.  The  land  is  excellent,  and  the  s|)ot  in  every  respect  well  chosen. 
Here  forty  families  of  these  people  have  fixed  themselves  in  the  business  of 
agriculture.  They  have  cleared  the  ground  on  both  sides  of  the  road  about 
a  quarter  of  a  mile  in  breadth  and  about  four  miles  in  length.  Three  of 
them  have  framed  houses.  One,  named  Amos  Hutton,  has  a  good  house 
well  finished,  and  a  large  barn  well  built.  Several  others  have  barns  also. 
The  remaining  houses  are  of  logs,  and  differ  little  from  those  of  the  whites 
when  formed  of  the  same  material.  Their  husbandry  is  generally  much 
inferior  to  that  of  the  white  people.  Their  fences  are  indifferent,  and  their 
meadows  and  arable  grounds  are  imperfectly  cleared.  Indeed  almost  every- 
where is  visible  that  slack  hand,  that  disposition  to  leave  everything  unfin- 
i?,hed,  which  peculiarly  characterizes  such  Indians  as  have  Lft  the  savage 
life.  I  have  observed  that  the  house  and  barn  of  Amos  Hutton  were  both 
well  built.  We  had  an  opportunity  to  see  the  interior  of  the  house,  and 
by  the  neatness  which  everywhere  appeared,  both  in  the  building  and  furni- 
ture, were  assured  that  his  wife  was  an  industrious  and  thorough  housewife. 
Mr.  Kirkland  informed  me  that  this  man  lives  well,  that  he  keeps  always 
one  and  sometimes  two  yoke  of  good  oxen,  two  or  three  horses,  and  three 
or  four  cows  ;  that  he  is  an  exact  paymaster;  and  that  although  no  debt 
against  an  Indian  is  recoverable  by  law,  he  is  readily  trusted  for  anything 
which  he  is  willing  to  buy.  He  is  probably  the  fairest  example  of  industry, 
economy,  and  punctuality,  which  these  people  can  boast.  Most  of  them 
will  leave  their  own  business  to  labour  for  the  white  inhabitants.  They  are 
universally  civil  in  their  deportment.  The  men  and  boys  took  off  their  hats, 
and  the  girls  courtesied,  as  we  passed, by  them.  They  speak  decent  English, 
and  much  excel  the  ordinary  Dutch  people  in  the  correctness  of  their  pro- 
nunciation. One  of  them  tends  a  saw  mill,  built  by  the  state  for  this  settle- 
ment.* 

President  Dwight  evidently  did  not  traverse  the  entire  town 
or  he  would  have  seen,  especially  on  the  hill  westward,  many 

4  Dwight's  Travels,  Lond.,  1823,  III,  168  ff. 


INDIAN  TOWN  GOVERNMENT  305 

cleared  and  well-tilled  acres.  The  road  to  which  he  refers 
was  that  now  running  north  and  south  through  the  village  of 
Deansville,  named  by  the  Indians  Federal  Street.  Amos 
Hutton  lived  on  lot  No.  5,  toward  the  northern  limit.  There 
were  certainly  others  as  skilled  in  farming  as  he,  and  notably 
David  Fowler.  Dwight's  census  of  families  is  too  small, 
for  in  1795  lots  were  assigned  to  thirty-nine  families  and  in 
1799  there  were  about  sixty.  More  joined  them  about  1800. 
In  1813  they  numbered  302.  In  18 19  there  were  said  to  be 
sixty  families  and  twenty-two  widows  whose  lots  were  leased 
to  whites  for  their  benefit.  The  condition  of  their  fields 
should  be  judged  in  view  of  the  fact  that  this  was  a  new  set- 
tlement. Many  had  not  been  accustomed  to  agriculture,  and 
they  had  not  been  able  to  accomplish  all  they  would  for  lack 
of  means.  With  praiseworthy  zeal  they  had  undertaken  what 
was  for  the  Indian  a  great  work.  The  first  request  made  of 
their  superintendents  in  1796  was  for  "four  pair  of  oxen, 
twelve  cows,  one  hundred  and  twenty  bushels  of  corn,  three 
barrels  of  pork,  six  ploughs,  six  chains,  three  sets  of  harrow 
teeth,  three  sets  of  cart  irons  and  one  hundred  sheep."  ^  In 
1805  the  town  voted  to  give  a  premium  on  the  raising  of  grain, 
and  to  encourage  those  who  would  build  houses  and  barns. 
It  was  determined  in  18 18  that  one  who  cleared  thirty  acres 
out  of  fifty  was  to  have  twenty-five  more  for  farming  purposes. 
Examinations  into  their  progress  were  made  from 'time  to  time 
by  the  state  of  New  York.  From  these  it  appears  that  in  18 13 
they  had  2,000  acres  of  land  cleared  and  under  cultivation, 
and  they  were  "  considerably  advanced  in  agricultural  know- 
ledge." They  then  had  ninety  cows,  thirty  horses,  sixteen 
yoke  of  oxen,  ninety-three  young  cattle,  eighty-eight  sheep  and 
a  great  number  of  swine.  They  had  a  grist-mill,  two  saw- 
mills, sixteen  framed  houses,  eighteen  framed  barns,  twenty- 
one  ploughs,  seventeen   sleds,  three  carts   and  three  wagons. 

°  Siipt.  Rec,  Lett.  Floyd  to  Eddy,  June  19,  1796. 


3o6  SAMSON  OCCOM 

Four  of  their  number  were  carpenters,  two  blacksmiths,  four 
shoemakers,  two  tailors  and  five  weavers.  During  the  preced- 
ing year  they  had  manufactured  320  yards  of  woolen  and  600 
yards  of  linen  cloth,  and  they  had  produced  11,300  bushels  of 
grain  of  various  kinds  and  raised  3,400  bushels  of  potatoes. 
The  report  of  1825  shows  that  during  the  year  they  had  manu- 
factured 1,495  yards  of  woolen,  890  yards  of  linen,  302  yards 
of  wool  and  cotton  and  188  yards  of  cotton  and  linen  cloth, 
which  was  700  yards  more  than  they  had  made  the  year  before. 
This  thrift  in  weaving  had  been  brought  about  by  premiums 
paid  from  their  annuity  on  domestic  manufactures.^  Industry 
and  sobriety  were  also  rewarded  by  payments  in  nails,  glass, 
and  other  articles  used  in  their  improvements.  At  that  time 
it  was  said  that  "the  greater  part  of  them  are  men  whose 
lives  and  characters  would  disgrace  no  community  being  tem- 
perate and  industrious."  They  were  living  in  good  and  con- 
venient houses  which  were  kept  clean  and  neat.  Their  farms 
were  well  fenced,  they  had  good  roads  and  their  crops  were 
larger  than  they  needed  to  use.  Dwight  saw  them  at  an  early 
day  and  compared  them  with  the  white  settlers  round  about — 
the  best  blood  of  New  England.  He  recites  some  interest- 
ing facts  as  to  certain  ones  among  them,  whose  skin  had 
begun  to  change  to  whiteness,  notably  Samuel  Adams  who 
"is  almost  become  a  white  man."  We  should  think  that  the 
signs  indicated  leprosy  were  it  not  that  he  distinctly  denies 
this.  Perhaps  his  witness  exaggerated  somewhat.  This  was 
certainly  a  symptom  of  the  white  man's  civilization  which  the 
Indians  had  not  looked  for. 

The  chief  public  improvement  which  interested  them  in 
early  years  was  the  town  roads.  They  began  at  once  to 
widen  the  Indian  trails  which  crossed  their  tract.  One  of 
these  led  eastward  through  the  town  of  Paris,  or  over  "  Han- 
over Hill "  as  the  Indians  termed  it.     That  which  was  most 

"^iV.  Y.  Arch.,  Assembly  Papers,  Ind.  Aff.,  Vol.  41,  p.  93. 


INDIAN  TOWN  GOVERNMENT  307 

used,  and  doubtless  older,  was  one  from  Utica  through  the 
present  village  of  Clinton.  It  entered  their  tract  by  two  ways, 
one  going  west  from  the  ford  of  the  Oriskany,  between  lots  4 
and  5,  and  there  uniting  with  the  other  which  ran  through  lot 
I  from  the  northeast  corner.  From  the  point  where  these 
joined,  the  road  went  southward  until  between  lots  7  and  8, 
where  it  bore  to  the  southwest,  and  in  lot  u  led  westward  up 
over  the  hill  to  lot  105,  where  David  Fowler  lived.  Thence  it 
ran  between  lots  118  and  119  to  Tuscarora.  This  was  the 
original  approach  to  their  town,  and  it  was  put  in  condition 
for  their  travel  before  the  town  government  was  organized. 
There  was  also  a  road  branching  off  from  it  in  lot  11,  and 
leading  southward  through  their  tract,  dividing  agam  between 
lots  15  and  16.  One  of  these  went  southwest,  out  at  lot  133, 
and  the  other  went  southeast,  across  the  Oriskany,  southward 
and  out  at  lot  45.  Their  main  street  was  from  lot  5  to  lot  16. 
In  1796  this  was  moved  by  the  peacemakers  farther  east  and 
ran  at  the  foot  of  the  hill,  being  the  present  highway  north 
and  south,  through  Deansville.  We  have  thus  the  earliest 
roads  through  the  town.  The  road  from  David  Fowler's,  east- 
ward, down  the  hill  to  lot  13  was  laid  out  about  1804,  though 
it  was  in  use  earlier.  That  same  year  the  road  from  Deans- 
ville west  to  Augusta  was  laid  out.  The  one  from  lot  5  north- 
west dates  from  1802,  that  across  the  southwest  corner  from 
1809,  and  that  from  lot  7  southwest  to  lot  118  probably  from 
the  discontinuance  of  the  old  road  up  the  hill. 

As  already  stated,  the  town  of  Brothertown  as  constituted  in 
1795  contained  9,390  acres,  the  balance  of  their  tract  being 
sold  to  the  whites.  About  a  third  of  this  is  now  located  in  the 
town  of  Kirkland  and  the  remainder  in  Marshall.  It  was  sup- 
posed to  comprise  149  lots,  but  in  a  later  survey  made  by 
Peleg  Gifford  in  1828,  at  the  direction  of  Thomas  Dean,  only 
148  lots  were  found,  containing  9,587  acres.  Most  of  these 
were  fifty-acre  lots.     Those  of  Elijah  Wampy  and  David  Fow- 


308  SAMSON  OCCOM 

ler  were  the  largest,  the  former  having  169  and  the  latter 
155  acres.  This  later  survey  has  been  used  as  the  basis  of 
various  maps."  As  shown  in  the  "  Atlas  of  Oneida  County," 
Samson  Occom's  house  was  located  on  the  western  end  of  lot 
10,  marked  as  the  residence  of  J.  Whitney,  and  on  the  old  road. 
The  first  schoolhouse  of  1788  stood  south  of  it  on  lot  11. 
Occom,  therefore,  lived  within  the  present  limits  of  the  town 
of  Kirkland,  where  also  David  Fowler  was  located  and  the 
ancient  cemetery. 

The  first  mill  erected  in  Brothertown  was  the  sawmill  to 
which  reference  is  made  by  President  Dwight.  It  was  built 
only  the  year  before  his  visit,  and  was  located  on  the  west  end 
of  lot  24,  bordering  on  Oriskany  creek,  two  acres  of  which 
the  town  bought  for  ^10  from  Thomas  Isaacs.^  A  grist-mill 
was  built  in  1801  on  the  creek  between  lots  16  and  20.  This 
was  tended  by  various  Indians  appointed  for  the  purpose, 
among  them  Asa  and  Paul  Dick.  The  latter  received  fifteen 
dollars  a  month  in  1808  for  the  service.  Some  time  before 
that  a  second  sawmill  was  erected  in  the  south  part  of  the 
town. 

The  act  of  1796  provided  that  a  schoolhouse  should  be  built 
and  a  school  maintained  therein.  The  early  structure  which 
bore  that  name  must  then  have  been  in  a  decrepit  condition. 
A  new  one  was  therefore  begun  by  the  superintendents  in  the 
summer  of  1796,  and  completed  in  the  autumn.  It  stood,  the 
records  state,  "  near  where  the  old  one  stands  on  John  Tuhis 
land."  A  detailed  description  is  extant.  It  was  twenty-four  feet 
by  thirty,  built  of  timbers  sawed  four  or  five  inches  thick  and 
dove-tailed  together,  with  a  white  oak  floor  and  shingled  roof. 
Outside  it  was  covered  with  planed  boards  standing  upright 

'See  A  Map  of  the  Lands  Called  Brothertown,  by  Gerrit  Cluett,  1795,  Chart  No. 
62,  Field  book  No.  27,  Sec.  of  State  of  N.  Y. ;  Survey  of  1828,  by  P.  Gifford,  Sur- 
veyor General's  Office,  No.  136  ;  and  Atlas  of  Oneida  County,  N.  Y.,  D.  G.  Beers  & 
Co.,  1874. 

«  SiiJ>t.  Rec,  pp.  55,  63  ;   Town  Rec,  April  2,  1799. 


INDIAN  TOWN  GOVERNMENT 


309 


and  painted.  The  chimney  rose  on  the  east.  The  door  was 
in  the  middle  of  the  south  side,  and  it  was  well  provided  with 
windows,  having  twelve  lights  of  glass  each.  The  cost  was 
^167,  5s.  Elijah  Wampy,  Jr.,  was  the  first  schoolmaster,  but 
after  three  months  he  was  discharged,  and  Hannah,  the  daugh- 
ter of  David  Fowler,  succeeded  him.  In  18 19  they  reported 
forty  scholars,  and  in  1825  about  eighty.  Another  school- 
house  was  built  in  1809  in  the  south  part  of  the  town,  and  a 
third  later  near  Asa  Dick's,  where  Grace  Tocus  was  at  one 
time  the  teacher.  The  building  of  1796  is  said  to  have  been 
destroyed  by  fire,  and  another  erected  farther  south  in  the 
center  of  the  settlement.  As  they  voted  in  1816  to  sell  the 
schoolhouse  lot,  this  doubtless  happened  shortly  before  that 
date.  Both  edifices  were  designed  also  as  a  court-house  and 
place  for  religious  assemblies.  Their  town-meetings  were 
held  in  them,  and  the  sessions  of  the  peacemaker's  court. 
Here  on  Sunday  they  gathered  to  hear  such  preaching  as 
could  be  had,  the  signal  being  a  blast  on  the  shell.  A  larger 
building  was  suggested  by  the  superintendents,  with  a  view  of 
a  more  extensive  education  for  Indian  children;  but  in  1805 
the  town  voted  that  it  was  inexpedient.  There  was  at  this 
time,  and  for  many  years  thereafter,  no  store  of  any  kind  in 
Brothertown.  All  their  trading  was  done  at  John  Post's  well- 
known  establishment  in  Utica.  He  received  in  exchange  the 
ginseng,  of  which  they  gathered  large  quantities,  and  other 
produce  which  they  had  to  market. 

The  religious  affairs  of  Brothertown  did  not  move  very 
smoothly  after  the  death  of  Samson  Occom.  Samuel  Kirk- 
land  visited  them  repeatedly,  and  his  manuscript  journals 
contain  sundry  references  to  them.  He  made  the  following 
entry:  "April  13,  1793.  The  poor  people  [at  Brothertown] 
have  been  rent  and  torn  to  pieces  by  certain  [seventh]  day 
baptist  teachers,  or  exhorters,  who  have  been  among  them 
during  my  absence  and  confinement.     Lastly  they  have  been 


3IO  SAMSON  OCCOM 

assailed  by  the  Methodists  and  by  persons  who  do  not  sup- 
port the  best  characters  among  that  sect.  The  few  remaining 
steady  Indians  are  much  concerned  and  know  not  which  way 
to  turn  themselves  nor  what  measures  can  be  devised  to  pre- 
serve the  nation  from  those  divisions  and  animosities  which 
will  eventually  prove  their  ruin."  The  Separatist  notions, 
which,  it  will  be  remembered,  had  prevailed  among  some  at 
Charlestown,  seem  to  have  lingered  among  them.  The  day 
after  the  above  entry  Kirkland  preached  at  Brothertown,  and 
he  made  the  following  record  of  his  service :  "  Sighs  and 
groans  were  now  and  then  heard  from  various  parts  of  the 
assembly  ;  but  no  crying  out,  as  I  was  told  there  had  frequently 
been  with  many.  These  would  fall  flat  on  the  floor  without 
receiving  any  apparent  injury.  This  they  ascribed  to  the 
power  which  they  supposed  came  upon  them,  and  carried 
them  quite  beyond  themselves.  I  conversed  with  several  on 
the  subject  and  used  so  much  tenderness  and  candour  as  not 
to  provoke  them  or  excite  their  jealousies.  I  soon  found  that 
they  had  but  confused  ideas  themselves  of  what  they  thought 
this  power  to  be.  When  I  had  explained  to  them  the  natural 
and  genuine  fruits  and  operation  of  the  Holy  Spirit  in  bring- 
ing souls  home  to  Christ,  they  did  not  incline  to  ascribe  it 
altogether  to  his  operations  or  influences,  but  would  say  it  was 
something  above  or  beyond  the  power  of  man  and  the  person 
upon  whom  the  power  thus  came  must  be  highly  favoured  of 
God."  When  Kirkland  preached  there  again  on  the  twenty- 
third  of  May,  his  service,  he  notes,  was  attended  by  all  parties, 
Methodists,  Baptists,  Separatists  and  Presbyterians.  In  1793 
Brothertown  was  visited  by  our  old  acquaintance.  Rev.  Samuel 
Ashbow,  then  about  seventy-five  years  of  age.  We  quote 
again  from  Kirkland's  journal,  December  16,  1793:  "Was 
told  by  several  Indians  of  the  steady  class  that  some  of  their 
tribe  of  the  Baptist  and  Separate  persuasion,  particularly 
Ashpo,  had  lately  arrived  from  N.  E.  Stonington  and  Mohegan 


INDIAN   TOWN  GOVERNMENT  311 

in  Connecticut;  that  they  depended  much  on  hearing  me  in 
order  to  judge  for  themselves  if  I  was  a  gospel  preacher.  . 
I  publicly  proposed  to  Elder  Ashpo  (as  they  call  him)  to  make 
the  last  prayer,  but  he  declined.  After  service  several  of  the 
Indians  applied  to  him  for  another  religious  exercise,  in  which 
he  should  improve  his  gift,  as  they  phrase  it.  Their  object 
was  that  he  should  speak  while  I  was  present.  He  objected 
on  account  of  the  day  being  far  spent  etc."  Elder  Ashbow 
agreed,  however,  to  meet  the  Indians  in  the  evening  and  Kirk- 
land  gives  a  report  of  the  meeting :  "  Had  an  account  of  the 
meeting  last  evening.  They  had  four  speakers  or  exhorters, 
the  last  of  whom  was  a  woman.  They  continued  together  till 
midnight,  but  were  all  disappointed  in  Mr.  Ashpo,  the  old 
gentleman,  who  instead  of  flame  and  zeal  and  an  elevated 
voice  spake  with  great  deliberation,  low  voice  and  said  little 
more  than  to  repeat  over  a  considerable  part  of  my  sermon 
with  some  comments  on  particular  passages,  and  concluded 
by  speaking  highly  of  learning.  After  this  young  David 
Fowler  rose  and  spake  with  great  vehemence  till  he  almost 
foamed  at  the  mouth,  but  communicated  no  information  or 
instruction.  The  whole  of  his  harangue  was  a  repetition  of 
some  extravagant  words  and  phrases."  On  the  next  Sabbath, 
also,  Kirkland  preached  there,  but  by  mistake  or  design  the 
people  assembled  in  two  different  places  and  he  was  obliged  to 
preach  without  the  attendance  of  the  Baptists.  Samuel  Ash- 
bow had  always  held  such  views  as  are  here  attributed  to  him, 
though  at  one  time  under  Doctor  Wheelock's  influence  he  cast 
them  aside.  He  remained  at  Brothertown  only  a  short  time, 
returned  to  Mohegan  and  died  there.  David  Fowler,  Jr.,  seems 
to  have  imbibed  his  views,  though  his  father  was  one  of  the 
"steady"  kind,  which  included  the  members  of  Occom's  scat- 
tered flock.  A  congregation  of  Baptists  with  Separatist  ten- 
dencies was  the  outcome  of  this  year  of  divisions.  The 
Methodist    party  was    small   and  scarcely  survived   the  men- 


312 


SAMSON  OCCOM 


tion  of  their  name  in  Kirkland's  journal,  for  he  notes  in  July 
that  "The  methodist  meeting  is  entirel}^  broken  up."  The 
missionary  continued  to  preach  at  intervals  to  the  steady  class, 
but  they  had  no  stated  minister  thereafter.  Thus  it  happened 
that  there  was  developed  among  them  a  Baptist  party,  which 
was  strong  for  many  years.  These  in  the  course  of  time  were 
divided,  some  being  Freewill  Baptists,  of  whom  Elder  Isaac 
Wauby  and  Elder  Benjamin  Garret  Fowler  were  ministers,  and 
others  being  close  communion  Baptists,  to  whom  Elder  Thomas 
Dick  ministered.  Perhaps  this  division  prevented  the  building 
of  a  meeting-house,  as  the  superintendents  proposed.  The  town 
voted  October  2,  1808,  "That  the  Meeting  House  to  be  built 
in  Brothertown  is  to  stand  west  of  the  school  house  where  the 
barn  stands  ;  the  said  meeting  house  is  to  be  thirty  by  forty 
feet  square,  two  stories  high  with  a  steeple  and  a  bell."  This 
building,  however,  was  not  erected.  The  town  voted  June  24, 
1811,  "That  Elder  Isaac  Wauby  and  his  Church  should  oc- 
cupy the  school  house  in  Brothertown  on  the  last  Sunday  of 
June  for  the  purpose  of  Public  worship;  and  that  Thos.  E)ick 
and  his  church  shall  occupy  the  same  House  for  the  same  pur- 
pose the  Sunday  thereafter,  and  each  without  any  molestaticJn 
whatsoever,  and  so  on  alternately  until  some  further  arrange- 
ment shall  be  made  by  their  agreement  or  otherwise."  Elder 
Wauby  removed  with  a  party  to  White  River,  Indiana,  and 
there  died  about  1824.  His  successor  was  Elder  Fowler.  The 
report  on  Brothertown  affairs  in  1825,  says:  "They  have  two 
preachers  of  the  gospel  among  them  of  their  own  number,  who 
are  pious  and  exemplary  men,  regularly  devoted  to  their  calling." 
The  superintendents  came  early  to  the  conclusion  that  it 
was  best  to  have  a  white  man  act  in  the  capacity  of  teacher, 
and  as  their  agent  in  the  management  of  their  business. 
Some  time  was  spent  in  looking  for  a  proper  person.  Thomas 
Eddy  of  New  York,  one  of  the  superintendents,  was  a  Quaker, 
and  withal  very  greatly  interested  in  the  welfare  of  the  tribe. 


INDIAN   TOWN  GOVERNMENT  313 

A  missionary  movement  among  the  Quakers  about  this  time 
had  awakened  a  zeal  for  such  labor.  In  1796,  John  Prince, 
James  Cooper,  Joseph  Sanson,  Isaiah  Powland,  Enoch  Walker 
and  Henry  Simmons,  Jr.,  "steady  and  judicious  men,"  came 
to  Oneida,  where  some  of  them  began  labors  among  the 
Indians.  Eddy  naturally  looked  to  his  brethren  for  one  to 
fill  this  office.  In  1798  he  and  his  associates  settled  upon  a 
Quaker  named  John  Dean,  then  residing  in  New  York.  When 
word  came  to  the  Indians  that  a  Quaker  was  to  become  their 
schoolmaster,  they  had  some  fear  of  his  religious  views.  A 
petition  was  sent  to  Governor  Jay  representing  "that  they  did 
not  wish  to  be  made  proselytes  by  any  people,  but  wished  to 
have  the  liberty  of  acting  according  to  the  dictates  of  their 
own  consciences  both  in  religion  and  the  teaching  of  their 
children."  The  superintendents  disclaimed  any  other  purpose 
than  to  assist  the  Indians,  but  said  that  John  Dean  was  the 
only  person  of  suitable  character  they  had  been  able  to  pre- 
vail upon  to  reside  among  them.  It  was,  therefore,  decided 
that  Dean  should  engage  in  the  work  at  a  salary  of  $300  per 
annum.  The  letter  which  he  carried  from  Thomas  Eddy  to 
the  peacemakers,  and  which  says  "  he  goes  to  be  schoolmas- 
ter," is  dated  December  31,  1798.  It  has  been  said  that  he 
was  commissioned  in  1795  by  the  Society  of  Friends  to  labor 
as  a  missionary  among  the  Brothertown  Indians.^  We  find  no 
evidence  that  he  was  among  them  in  any  capacity  at  that 
time.  He  seems  to  have  been  a  stranger  when  he  was  en- 
gaged. Possibly  he  was  commissioned  as  a  missionary,  and 
labored  among  the  Oneidas,  or  some  neighboring  tribe,  as 
other  Quakers  did.  At  all  events,  he  set  out  as  above  noted 
for  Brothertown,  and  arrived  there  early  in  January.  His 
family,  we  think,  were  not  removed  thither  till  the  following 
summer.  That  spring  a  small  house  was  built  for  him  "near 
the   schoolhouse,"    and   the   superintendents   then   set  off  ten 

'•  Durant's  Hist,  of  Oneida  County. 


314  SAMSON  OCCOM 

acres  of  land  for  this  purpose.  This  was  the  Dean  residence 
for  some  years,  and,  as  it  was  near  the  schoolhouse  it  was, 
probably,  on  lot  11.  John  Dean  was  then  well  on  in  life.  He 
is  said  to  have  been  a  good  farmer,  and  much  respected  for 
his  steady,  sober  conduct.  His  wife  was  "  a  reliable  woman 
and  in  good  respect  for  her  industry  and  good  management." 
President  Dwight  makes  the  following  reference  to  him  :  "A 
Quaker  who  is  a  well-appearing  man  and  of  a  good  character, 
has  come  to  Brothertown  with  his  family,  and  resided  here 
some  time  for  the  benevolent  purpose  of  teaching  the  Indian 
children  to  read  and  write.  He  told  me  they  learn  as  readily 
and  rapidly  as  the  children  of  whites.  Their  schoolhouse  was 
built  for  them  by  the  state  and  serves  them  as  a  church. "^° 
How  long  John  Dean  was  actually  engaged  in  teaching  is 
uncertain.  Some  of  the  Indian  children  were  boarded  with 
him,  at  the  town's  expense,  so  late  as  181 1.  He  is  said  to 
have  died  in  1820,  aged  eighty-eight  years.  His  son,  Thomas 
Dean,  was  associated  with  him  by  the  action  of  the  superin- 
tendents, March  26,  1801,  and  soon  thereafter  became  the 
schoolmaster.  He  was  then  twenty-two  years  of  age,  and 
wise  beyond  his  years.  Like  his  father,  he  was  a  Quaker ; 
but  the  Indians  had  ceased  to  fear  any  proselytism  to  that 
faith.  He  possessed  those  qualities  of  character  which  ena- 
bled him  to  control  them  without  offending  their  independ- 
ence; and,  from  the  first,  even  more  than  his  father,  he  won 
their  confidence  and  affection.  In  1809  he  married  Mary 
Flandrau,  of  New  Rochelle,  N.  Y,,  and  settled  down  to  devote 
his  life  to  the  welfare  of  the  people  whom  he  had  adopted. 
He  became  not  only  their  schoolmaster,  but  the  agent  of  the 
superintendents.  The  Indians  came  to  look  upon  him  as 
their  white  father.  He  was  their  surveyor  to  lay  out  their 
roads,  their  lawyer  to  advise  them  in  the  sale  of  their  lands, 
draw  up  conveyances  and  agreements,  and  hold  trusts  for  the 

'0  Dwight's  Travels,  III,  169. 


INDIAN  TOWN  GOVERNMENT  315 

benefit  of  certain  individuals  and  families.  He  interested 
himself  in  the  industrial  affairs  of  the  tribe,  encouraging  them 
in  building,  manufacturing  and  the  improved  tillage  of  their 
farms.  There  are,  doubtless,  to  this  day,  at  Deansville,  which 
was  named  after  him,  and  throughout  the  region,  descendants 
of  a  nursery  of  apple-trees  which  he  set  out,  and  which  were 
distributed  among  their  farms.  To  him  are  largely  due  the 
later  stability  and  success  of  the  tribe.  In  1824  he  leased 
for  ten  years  part  of  lot  16,  which  had  been  assigned  to 
David  Fowler,  Jr.,  and  three  years  later,  a  law  having  been 
passed  permitting  the  sale  of  Indian  lands,  he  bought  four 
fifths  of  this  lot  for  $640,  from  the  Fowler  heirs.  The  remain- 
ing fifth  he  bought  in  1830.  On  this  lot  the  Dean  mansion 
was  erected,  and  there  he  resided  until  his  death,  in  1842,  at 
the  age  of  sixty-three  years. ^^  During  his  maturer  years  he 
did  his  greatest  service  for  the  Brothertown  Indians.  The 
emigration  fever  had  again  possessed  them.  A  vast  region  in 
the  new  and  distant  West  invited  them,  and  they  were  sur- 
rounded by  the  whites.  Thomas  Dean  then  saw  the  wisdom 
of  another  removal  to  Wisconsin.  In  their  behalf  he  under- 
took to  open  the  way,  journeying  to  Washington  with  Ran- 
dall Abner,  their  representative,  and  to  the  westward  in  this 
arduous  service.  His  efforts  were  successful.  In  their  appre- 
ciation of  his  many  years  as  their  father  and  friend,  the  Indians 
at  first  named  their  new  settlement  Deansborough.  Company 
after  company  were  made  ready  for  their  pilgrimage.  One  by 
one  the  aged,  who  tarried  still,  were  laid  in  their  graves.  At 
last,  when  Thomas  Dean  came  to  his  death,  there  were  only  a 
few  of  his  people  in  the  neighborhood  to  attend  upon  his  burial. 
The  Indian  town  of  Samson  Occom  had  melted  away. 

His  children  were  as  follows  :  I.  Philena  Hunt,  m.  Prof.  Marcus  Catlin  of  Ham- 
ilton College.  H.  Phebe,  m.  Col.  Alexander  H.  Redfield  of  Detroit,  Mich.  HI. 
John,  b.  Aug.  16,  1813;  Ham  Coll.,  1S32;  Mem.  Leg.  of  N.  Y.,  1846,  and  Com.  of 
Customs,  Treas.  Dept.,  Washington.  IV.  Hannah,  d.  1S47.  V.  Elias  Flandrau> 
physician,  Phila.,  Pa. 


CHAPTER    XVII 

THE    LAST    REMOVE 
1809-1898 

The  ultimate  emiojration  of  the  Brothertown  Indians  to 
another  location  in  the  far  West  was  foreseen  by  Samson 
Occom  before  his  death.  He  looked  about  him  on  the  beauti- 
ful hills  and  valleys  of  the  Oneidas,  and  with  prophetic  gaze 
saw  them  thickly  peopled  by  the  whites.  Doubtless  he  had 
many  a  conversation  on  the  subject  with  his  friends,  and 
prominent  among  them  was  Hendrick  Aupaumut,  the  chief  of 
the  Stockbridge  tribe.  He  it  was  who  became  the  forerunner 
of  the  New  York  Indians  in  their  subsequent  removal  west- 
ward. 

So  early  as  the  year  1791  this  chief,  accompanied  by 
several  of  his  nation  and  Good  Peter,  the  aged  father  of  the 
faith  among  the  Oneidas,  went  on  an  embassy  to  the  Miami 
tribe.  The  ostensible  purpose  of  this  visit  was  the  introduc- 
tion of  Christianity;  but  he  seems  also  to  have  done  some 
prospecting,  with  a  vievv  of  locating  a  large  tract  of  land  on 
White  river,  now  in  Indiana,  to  which  the  Stockbridge  tribe 
somehow  had  acquired  a  claim.  A  council  was  held  there  in 
1802  with  the  Delawares  who  had  removed  thither,  Hendrick 
Aupaumut  being  chief  of  the  Stockbridge  delegation.^  A 
friendly  compact  was  then  made  between  them.  For  two 
years  thereafter  Captain  Hendrick  was  engaged  in  perfecting 
this  relationship  in  behalf  of  the  Oneidas  and  their  wards,  the 
Indians  of  New  Stockbridge  and  Brothertown.      In  the  spring 

^A  Report  to  the  Secretary  of  IVar,  Dr.  Morse,  App.,  pp.  no,  iii. 
316 


THE  LAST  REMOVE  317 

of  1809  the  latter  were  invited  to  send  delegates  westward 
with  him.  They  did  so,  by  a  vote  of  the  town  on  the  fourth  of 
April,  and  John  Tuhie,  John  Skeesuck,  Henry  Cuship  and 
Jacob  Fowler  were  appointed.  The  speech  delivered  by  them 
July  third  and  the  reply,  read  in  their  town-meeting,  August 
twenty-ninth,  are  recorded  in  the  town  records.  This  passage 
is  conspicuous  in  the  reply:  "Grand-children,  Brothers  and 
Friends  :  Be  it  known  to  you  that  you  have  the  same  privi- 
lege as  we  have  to  this  land,  we  can  not  point  out  a  particular 
spot  for  you  to  live  on  ;  but  you  may  take  your  own  choice 
wherever  you  should  be  suited  on  undivided  land  along  this 
river,  there  you  may  build  your  fire-place."  ^  Captain  Hendrick 
did  not  at  once  return  to  New  Stockbridge,  but  remained  some 
time  in  the  White  River  country.^  During  this  period  Tecumseh 
became  powerful,  and  his  brother,  Elskwatawa,  the  "  Shauwasee 
prophet,"  preached  the  extermination  of  the  whites.  The 
Stockbridge  chief  was  then  of  great  service  to  the  government 
in  opposing  this  excitement,  and  to  General  Harrison  in  the 
Indian  war  which  followed.  He  had  once  fought  in  the  Revo- 
lution, and  in  this  war,  as  in  that  of  181 2,  he  was  no  less  a 
brave  warrior.'* 

It  had  been  determined  at  Brothertown  in  181 2  to  begin  a 
settlement  at  White  River.  These  wars  deterred  them,  and 
many  of  their  number  enlisted  in  the  United  States  service. 
Some  never  returned.  Finally,  when  peace  had  been  restored, 
the  town  voted,  January  13,  1817,  to  choose  five  men  to  go 
there  "  in  pursuit  of  a  tract  of  land  heretofore  sought  for  by 
their  [our]  delegates  sent  there  in  the  year  1809,  and  to  get  a 
title  to  it."      The    Stockbridge  tribe   also  were   preparing  to 

2  Toivn  Records,  pp.  58-60  ;  Jones'  Annals  of  Oneida  Cotiniy.  pp.  267-270. 

^  Sergeant's  Journals,  Am.  Bd.  Com.  For.  Miss.;  Dr.  Morse's  Report,  App.,  pp, 
108,  109. 

*  This  remarkable  Indian  afterwards  removed  with  liis  people  to  Wisconsin,  living 
an  honorable  life  to  the  last,  and  died  at  South  Kaukauna  in  the  summer  of  1830' 
Muhhekaneok,  Davidson,  pp.  19,  20,  27  ;   Wis.  Hist.  Soc.  Coll.,  II,  433. 


3l8  SAMSON  OCCOM 

remove.  Two  families  went  in  1817  and  more  the  next 
season.  On  the  twenty-fourth  of  July,  1818,  Rev.  John  Ser- 
geant assembled  the  tribe  in  anticipation  of  this  pilgrimage. 
The  old  church  then  dismissed  and  formed  into  a  new  body 
eleven  of  their  number,  for  whom  he  transcribed  the  Confes- 
sion of  Faith  and  Covenant  in  English,  adding  in  their  own 
language  a  Covenant  especially  adapted  to  their  circum- 
stances.^ On  the  fifteenth  of  August  following,  some  having 
gone  and  more  being  then  ready  to  depart,  another  meeting 
was  held,  at  which  the  chief,  Hendrick  Aupaumut,  in  a  "large 
speech"  presented  to  them  from  the  old  church  a  copy  of 
Scott's  Bible  "  to  read  on  Lord's  Days  and  at  other  religious 
meetings."  So  they  said  farewell,  and  were  gone  to  return  no 
more. 

Some  Brothertown  families  went  with  this  latter  company, 
which  soon  overtook  the  first.  Among  these  were  Elder  Isaac 
Wauby  and  some  of  his  followers,  Thomas  Isaacs,  and  Samson 
Occom,  a  grandson  of  the  minister,  who  is  said  to  have 
descendants  living  in  Wisconsin.  Aged  Indians  now  survive 
who  remember  this  affecting  farewell — the  first  of  this  pilgrim 
people  to  set  out  toward  the  setting  sun. 

A  great  disappointment  awaited  them.  Ere  they  reached 
their  destination,  they  heard  that  the  United  States  govern- 
ment by  a  treaty  with  the  Miamis  had  bought  a  large  tract  of 
land,  including  that  on  which  they  had  intended  to  settle.® 
A  few  of  the  Brothertown  tribe  returned,  but  most  of  them 
went  on.  Earnest  efforts  were  made  by  these  tribes  in  an 
appeal  to  the  government  to  regain  their  lands,  but  they  were 

5  This  Covenant  was  signed  by  Deacon  Joseph  Quinney,  John  M'Toksin,  Robert 
Konkpot,  John  Bennet,  Betsey  Bennet,  Esther  T.,  Margaret  Q.,  Hannah  K., 
Catharine  M.,  Dolly  N.,  and  Mary  K.—Sergeanfs  Journals;  Report  of  the  Select 
Covt.  of  the  Soc.  for  Prop,  the  Gos.  among  the  Indians  and  others  in  North  Avierica^ 
Cambridge,  1819,  p.  14:  Dr.  Morse's  Report^  App.,  p.  112;  and  Mtihhekaneok, 
Davidson,  pp.  20  ff. 

^  Dr  Morsels  Report,  App.  pp.  114-118. 


THE  LAST  REMOVE 


319 


of  no  avail.  The  trials  of  these  emigrants  discouraged  them 
and  sickness  wasted  their  numbers.  Elder  Wauby  died.  Sev- 
eral years  afterwards  the  remnant  found  their  way  to  Green 
Bay.  Thus  the  first  attempt  to  establish  a  new  town  in  the 
West  came  to  naught. 

As  this  hope  was  dying  out  a  new  movement  was  being 
inaugurated.  In  the  year  1816,  that  most  remarkable  mis- 
sionary and  strange  man  of  a  royal  likeness,  Rev.  Eleazar 
Williams,  appeared  among  the  Oneida  Indians.  The  attempt 
already  made  suggested  to  him,  to  Rev.  Jedediah  Morse  and 
especially  to  the  land  companies  who  wished  the  Indians  to 
vacate  their  reservations  in  New  York,  the  removal  of  all  these 
Indians  to  a  Western  home.^  Williams  hoped  to  form  a  con- 
federacy of  Indian  towns  under  one  controlling  head,  and 
though  this  purpose  failed,  his  efforts  greatly  furthered  the 
emigration  movement. 

The  account  of  the  negotiations  of  delegates  from  the  New 
York  tribes  with  the  Menomonees  and  Winnebagoes  at  Green 
Bay,  Wisconsin,  in  182 1,  is  a  tedious  story.  They  were  con- 
ducted under  the  authority  of  the  United  States.  Captain 
Hendrick  Aupaumut  was  prominent  in  the  business.  The 
result  was  the  purchase  of  a  large  tract  from  these  Wisconsin 
tribes,  said  to  contain  2,000,000  acres,  the  consideration  being 
$2,000,  one  quarter  of  which  was  then  paid.  The  date  of  this 
treaty  is  August  18,  182  i.  On  the  twenty-third  of  September, 
1822,  another  treaty  was  made,  by  which  the  New  York 
Indians  acquired  "all  the  right,  title,  interest  and  claim"  to 
another  tract,  for  which  they  agreed  to  pay  $3,000.  The  price 
was  all  the  land  was  worth  at  the  time.  The  Brothertown 
Indians  were  represented  in  these  treaties;  but  they  formally 
united  in  the  affair  in  1824,  when  on  the  sixth  of  April  the 
town  voted  "  that  a  purchase  shall  be  made  of  land  at  Green 

'  77^1?  Lost  Prince,hy  John  H.  Hanson  ;  Wis.  Hist.  Soc.  Coll.,  II,  415-449  ;  Muh- 
hekaneok,  pp.  21  ff. ;  Dr.  Morse's  Report,  pp.  24-27,  App.  75-89;  and  Jones'  Annals 
of  Oneida  County,  pp.  861-S63,  8S9,  S93. 


320  SAMSON  OCCOM 

Bay."  The  following  Indians  were  then  appointed  to  act  in 
the  matter  with  their  agent,  Thomas  Dean  :  William  Dick, 
Rhodolphus  Fowler,  Paul  Dick,  Benjamin  G.  Fowler,  Thomas 
Dick,  Randall  Abner,  John  Johnson,  Daniel  Dick,  David  Tou- 
cee,  George  Scippio,  George- Sampson,  and  Samuel  Scippio. 
Some  of  these  went  to  Wisconsin  with  Thomas  Dean,  and 
they  bought  a  tract  on  Fox  river,  eight  miles  wide  and  thirty 
miles  long,  paying  therefor  $950,  out  of  their  annuity,  which 
was  nearly  the  amount  of  the  payment  then  due  on  the  above- 
named  agreement  with  the  Wisconsin  Indians.^  Thus  they 
had  by  representation  at  the  treaty,  by  town  vote,  and  by  an 
actual  payment  allowed  by  the  state  of  New  York,  acquired 
valuable  lands.  On  the  twenty-fourth  of  August,  1830,  at  the 
laying  out  of  lands  for  the  New  York  Indians,  they  were 
represented  by  William  Dick,  Rhodolphus  Fowler  and  John 
Johnson.^  The  remnant  from  White  River  removed  thither  at 
once,  and  others  made  ready  to  go.  This  required  time. 
They  had  to  sell  their  lots  at  Brothertown  and  arrange  their 
affairs.  Meanwhile,  the  Menomonees  and  VVinnebagoes  had 
repented  of  their  bargain,  as  the  Oneidas  did  of  their  grant  to 
the  New  England  Indians.  They  denied  the  claim  of  the 
New  York  tribes.  The  United  States  government  investigated 
the  subject ;  and  notwithstanding  the  above  treaties,  which 
had  been  several  times  ratified  and  acknowledged,  proceeded 
in  the  Stambaugh  treaty,  made  at  Washington,  February  8, 
1831,  to  acquire  from  the  Wisconsin  tribes  a  title  to  all  their 
lands.  When  this  treaty  came  before  the  United  States  Sen- 
ate, that  body  refused  to  ratify  it  without  providing  that  three 
townships  east  of  W^innebago  Lake  be  granted  to  the  Stock- 
bridge,  Munsee  and  Brothertown  Indians,  in  addition  to 
500,000  acres  lying  west  of  Fox  river,  and  giving  them  com- 
pensation for  the  improvements  on  the  lands   they  then   occu- 

^  N.  Y.  Ach.,  Assembly  Papers,  Ind.  Aff.,  Vol.  41,  p.  93;  ^wd  Report  tf/1825. 
«  Wis.  Hist.  Soc.  Coll.,McCalPs  Joiirnal,X\l,  191. 


THE  LAST  REMOVE  32 1 

pied.  The  township  of  the  Brothertown  tribe  was  to  contain 
23,040  acres  and  they  were  allowed  $1,600  for  their  improve- 
ments. Even  an  Indian  could  see  the  difference  between  this 
and  the  153,600  acres  they  had  bought  and  paid  for.  The 
boundaries  of  the  tract  west  of  Fox  River  were  changed  and 
the  Indians  protested.  What  could  they  do  ?  Some  of  them 
were  on  the  ground  and  they  wanted  to  settle  down.  Their 
brethren  in  New  York  were  anxiously  awaiting  the  fixing  of  a 
location.  So  finally  the  agreement  was  accepted  and  the 
treaty  was  proclaimed  July  9,  1832. 

This  was  the  status  of  their  land  affairs  until  the  treaty  of 
January  15,  1838,  concluded  at  Buffalo  Creek,  N.  Y.  Let  it 
be  remembered  that  the  New  York  Indians  then  had  a  title  to 
500,000  acres  as  above  stated,  in  addition  to  the  reservations 
on  which  they  lived.  The  possession  of  this  tract  was  the 
object  of  the  treaty  of  1838.^'^  We  have  no  place  here  for 
details  ;  but  the  issues  depending  upon  this  transaction  have 
been  of  importance  to  the  New  York  Indians  ever  since. 
Upon  them  their  so-called  "  Kansas  claim  "  has  rested.  This 
famous  case  of  the  "  New  York  Indians  vs.  The  United  States  " 
has  been  on  its  tedious  journey  through  the  courts  these  many 
years,  and  now  in  this  memorable  year  of  justice,  A.  D.  1898, 
has  come  to  a  final  decision  in  the  Supreme  Court  in  favor  of 
the   Indians. -^^     How  strange  is   this   denouement  of    history! 

^0  U.  S.  Statutes  at  Large,  Vol.  VII,  Indian  Treaties,  pp.  550  ff. 

11  The  history  of  this  case  would  fill  a  volume.  It  is  Congressional  Case  No.  151 ; 
United  States  Court  of  Claims,  No.  17,861;  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States, 
Oct.,  1896,  No.  415.  The  Court  of  Claims  decided  in  favor  of  the  Indians  in  1890. 
This  decision  was  finally  reversed  aiid  the  Indians  appealed  to  the  Supreme  Court. 
The  argument  was  made  by  Hon.  Joseph  H.  Choate,  Dec.  7  and  8,  1896,  and  it  was 
reargued  later  on  a  constitutional  question.  The  Supreme  Court  decided  in  favor  of 
the  Indians,  who  then  moved  for  judgment  in  the  Court  of  Claims.  An  attempt  was 
then  made  to  reduce  the  amount  of  the  claim  by  excluding  the  New  York  Indians  in 
Wisconsin;  but  the  Court  of  Claims  on  the  mandate  of  the  Supreme  Court  entered 
judgment,  Nov.  14,  1898,  in  favor  of  the  claimants  for  ^1,961,400.  Provision  for  this 
payment  will  be  a  duty  of  the  Fifty-sixth  Congress.  All  of  the  nine  nations  and  tribes 
of  New  York  are  beneficiaries.  James  B.  Jenkins,  Esq.,  of  Oneida,  N.  Y.,  has  been 
22 


322  SAMSON  OCCOM 

The  half  million  acres  which- was  the  stake  in  1838  came  to 
the  New  York  Indians  in  consequence  of  the  agreement  of 
1822  ;  this  was  made  valid  by  the  payment  of  the  $950  by  the 
Brothertown  Indians;  they  obtained  this  money  from  the  fund 
arising  out  of  the  lands  which  Samson  Occom  so  bravely 
fought  to  retain;  and  he  was  the  first  native  missionary  of 
New  England  to  carry  the  gospel  to  the  Six  Nations. 

The  New  York  Indians  certainly  deeded  by  the  above  treaty 
of  1838,  the  500,000  acres  of  their  Green  Bay  lands.  In 
return  they  were  to  receive  "as  a  permanent  home  for  all  the 
New  York  Indians  then  residing  in  the  State  of  New  York  or 
in  Wisconsin  "  a  tract  of  land  directly  west  of  the  state  of 
Missouri  "to  include  1,824,000  acres,"  "to  have  and  to  hold 
the  same  in  fee  simple  to  the  said  tribes  or  nations  by  patent 
from  the  President."  It  was  further  provided  that  the  tribes 
should  agree  to  remove  thither  "  within  five  years,  or  such 
other  time  as  the  President  may  from  time  to  time  appoint,"  or 
forfeit  their  interest  to  the  United  States  ;  but  the  govern- 
ment was  to  appropriate  $400,000  to  aid  them  in  this  removal. 
The  Indians  claimed  that  the  United  States  government  never 
performed  its  part  of  the  agreement,  that  no  time  was  ap- 
pointed for  their  removal,  that  no  appropriation  was  made 
therefor,  that  the  Kansas  lands  were  never  conveyed  to  them, 
and  that  they  have  been  sold  to  white  settlers.  An  attempt 
was  made  in  1846,  without  the  President's  appointment,  to 
remove  two  hundred  and  one  Indians  from  New  York.  'I'hese 
were  conducted  by  the  Indian  agent  to  the  Little  Osage  River 
in  Kansas  and  there  left  unprovided  for — to  starve  and  die 
during  the  following  winter.  Thirty-two  only  of  the  survivors 
rem.iined  there  and  their  lands  were  taken  from  ihtMU  by 
settlers.  As  shown  in  the  statement  of  their  case, 'this  is  all 
the  government  has   done  to   fullil   its  agreement  in   payment 

interested  in  this  case  for  many  years  as  attorney  for  the  Indians,  and  to  him  the 
credit  of  the  final  decision  is  largely  due. 


THE  LAST  REMOVE  323 

for  the  Green  Bay  lands,  which  are  said  to  have  been  sold 
under  various  acts  of  Congress  at  an  average  price  of  $1.34 
per  acre. 

As  to  the  historical  relation  of  the  Brothertown  tribe  to  the 
New  York  Indians,  by  which  they  participated  in  all  these 
treaties,  there  can  be  no  doubt.  Since  the  grant  to  the  New 
England  Indians  in  1774,  as  heretofore  related,  they  have  been 
by  Indian  customs  and  treaty  wards  of  the  Oneida  Indians. 
In  all  the  early  negotiations  they  were  concerned.  They 
specifically  by  a  town  vote,  April  4,  1824,  reaffirmed  their 
union  with  the  New  York  Indians  in  making  the  purchase  of 
1822.  Thereafter  they  were  recognized  in  all  these  transac- 
tions by  the  Wisconsin  tribes  and  the  United  States.  As  to 
the  treaty  of  1838,  the  Brothertown  Indians  are  named  among 
the  tribes  participating  and  concerned  in  the  Western  grant. 

The  Brothertown  Indians,  as  the  remnant  of  the  New  Eng- 
land tribes,  have  had  a  peculiar  plea  for  consideration  and 
justice.  They  alone  of  all  the  scattered  nations,  which  our 
forefathers  were  wont  to  term  "the  lost  tribes  of  Israel,"  can 
trace  their  ancestry  back  to  the  days  of  the  founders  of  this 
Republic.  In  their  civilization  the  seeds  of  the  saintly  John 
Eliot's  sowing  are  still  bearing  fruit.  They  are  the  descend- 
ants of  Wheelock's  Indian  Charity  School — the  spiritual  chil- 
dren of  Samson  Occom.  Their  ancestors  fought  with  Uncas, 
"  the  white  man's  friend,"  in  the  Pequot  War,  went  out  with 
his  three  sons  against  King  Philip  and  came  to  the  rescue  of 
the  English  after  the  massacre  of  Bloody  Brook.  The  rolls  of 
all  the  later  Colonial  wars  contain  the  names  of  soldiers  from 
whom  they  can  prove  a  lineal  descent.  Their  great  grand- 
fathers fought  in  the  Revolution,  and  so  many  of  them  perished 
that  it  was,  by  the  testimony  of  William  Williams,  the  death 
blow  to  their  ancient  tribal  strength.  In  the  war  of  1812 
their  grandsires  were  engaged,  and  they  themselves,  out  of 
their  diminished  numbers,  furnished  nearly  threescore  and  ten 


324  SAMSON  OCCOM 

soldiers  in  the  Civil  War.  Where  in  this  broad  land  can  such 
a  Society  of  the  Colonial  Wars  be  found  ?  Whatever  the 
merits  of  their  claim  may  have  been,  which  it  is  not  for  the 
historian  to  judge,  the  survivors  of  the  New  England  Indians 
have  a  title  to  the  respect  of  the  American  people. 

The  first  emigration  of  families  from  Brolhertown,  N.  Y.,  to 
Green  Bay  was  in  the  year  1831.  Individuals  and  deputations 
only  had  before  this  made  journeys  thither  to  secure  the  land 
and  take  possession.  With  this  removal  in  view  they  peti- 
tioned the  General  Assembly  of  New  York  for  permission  to 
sell  their  lots,  which  was  granted  by  an  act  passed  April  16, 
1827.  The  superintendents  were  thus  authorized  on  the 
application  of  any  Indian  to  convey  his  land  in  fee  simple, 
receiving  one  fourth  of  the  purchase  money  in  cash  and  leav- 
ing the  balance  secured  by  a  mortgage  to  be  paid  in  instal- 
ments. The  seller  and  the  peacemakers  were  to  acknowledge 
all  deeds  which  were  to  be  duly  recorded.  The  proceeds  of  all 
common  lands  w^ere  to  be  expended  in  the  removal  of  the  poor 
and  the  residue,  if  any,  in  building  a  schoolhouse  in  their  new 
home.  All  who  removed  w^ere  still  to  receive  their  portion  of 
the  annuity.  This  provision  in  regard  to  the  Brothertown  fund 
was  carried  out  until,  by  an  act  passed  May  25,  1841,  those 
who  had  then  removed  to  Wisconsin  received  their  portion  of 
the  principal.  Thus  the  obstacles  in  the  way  were  cleared. 
The  Indians  began  at  once  in  1827  to  dispose  of  their  lots. 
All  matters  relating  to  their  emigration  were  placed  in  the 
hands  of  a  committee  chosen  annually,  and  the  affair  was  con- 
ducted with  discretion.  Probably  no  Indian  tribe  of  North 
America  ever  emigrated  under  more  favorable  circumstances. 
They  had  acquired  experience  and  knowledge  of  government. 
They  had  the  means  necessary  for  a  good  start  in  a  new  coun- 
try. Some  of  them  were  well-to-do.  The  distance  w^as  great 
and  they  could  not  transport  all  their  household  effects. 
Fortunately,  however,  they  had  a  waterway  in  the  Erie  canal 


THE  LAST  REMOVE  325 

from   Utica   to   Buffalo  and    thence   they   could    conveniently 
reach  Green  Bay  by  the  great  lakes. 

The  company  of  1831  was  composed  of  nearly  forty  persons, 
chiefly  the  large  families  of  William  and  Elkanah  Dick  and 
Randall  Abner.  Thomas  Commuck  and  his  wife  Hannah, 
Isaac  Scippio  and  David  Johnson  also  went  in  this  party.  Of 
these  the  following  were  living  in  1895  :  Barbara  Dick,  Delila 
Dick  Brushil,  Hannah  Abner  Commuck,  Rebecca  Abner  John- 
son, and  Elias  and  David  Dick.  They  made  their  settlement 
at  Kaukauna  on  the  Fox  River,  and  built  their  log  houses. 
The  land  was  not  the  best  adapted  to  farming  and  they  did 
not  intend  to  remain  there.  The  treaty  which  gave  them  a 
township  farther  south  on  the  east  shore  of  Winnebago  Lake 
was  then  pending  and  was  ratified  the  following  year.  Hence 
they  had  not  long  to  remain,  and  they  moved  to  their  final 
location  in  1832  and  1833.  In  1832  a  larger  company  reached 
the  new  settlement,  consisting  of  forty-four  persons,  as  nearly 
as  can  now  be  ascertained.  These  included  the  families  of 
Alexander,  Daniel  and  Thomas  Dick,  William  Johnson,  Simeon 
and  John  Adams,  Ezekiel  Wiggins,  Abraham  Skeesuck, 
Nathan  Paul  and  John  Seketer,  besides  several  men,  Jere- 
miah Johnson,  George  Skeesuck,  Charles  Seketer  and  James 
Wauby.  By  the  town  records  they  were  expecting  to  start  on 
the  twenty-fifth  of  June.  They  probably  set  out  about  that 
time,  as  they  were  four  weeks  going  from  Buffalo  to  Green  Bay 
and  arrived  there  early  in  August.  The  vessel  in  which  the  lake 
voyage  was  made  was  The  President.  Another  party  went 
in  1834,  in  which  were  Elder  Thomas  Dick  and  his  wife 
Debora,  Patience  Fowler,  the  widow  of  James,  and  her  chil- 
dren, widow  Hannah  Dick,  James  Niles,  Jesse  Corcomb,  Isaac 
Wauby,  Emanuel  Johnson,  Joseph  Palmer  and  such  families 
as  they  had.  They  made  the  voyage  in  a  schooner  named 
T/ie  Navigator.  In  1835  there  went  James  Simons,  Samuel 
Skeesuck,  Alonzo  D.  Dick  and  his  family  and  Solomon  Paul. 


326  SAMSON  OCCOM 

They  went  in  the  steamboat  United  States.  One  of  the  largest 
companies  went  in  1836,  in  which  were  Rhodolphus  Fowler  and 
his  children,  Simeon  Hart,  Lothrop  Dick,  William  Crosley, 
John  Johnson,  Ira  Hammer,  David  Wiggins,  George  Scippio, 
John  Matthews,  Henry  Fowler  and  Erastus  Fowler,  some  of 
them  with  families.  Some  of  these  met  a  tragic  death  by  the 
capsizing  of  a  boat  on  Fox  River,  where  six  men  were  drowned. 
After  this  they  went  in  smaller  parties  as  they  conveniently 
could,  including  widows  Esther  Sampson  and  Amy  Johnson, 
Charles  Anthony,  Henry  Skeesuck,  Hezekiah  Fowler,  John 
Wauby,  Rowland  Johnson,  Isaac  Dick,  Alexander  Fowler, 
Laton  Dick  and  Thomas  Hammer.  Elder  Benj  imin  G.  Fow- 
ler went  in  1846,  most  of  his  flock  having  preceded  him. 
Thus  most  of  the  tribe  were  reunited  in  their  new  home.  In 
anticipation  of  a  distribution  of  the  principal  of  their  fund  a 
census  was  made  of  those  remaining  in  New  York  in  1843, 
and  it  shows  the  names  of  ninety-six  persons.  Of  these  a 
large  number  went  to  Wisconsin  during  the  five  years  follow- 
ing. As  an  enumeration  made  in  1837,  in  connection  with  the 
treaty,  gives  their  number  as  three  hundred  and  sixty,  there 
must  have  been  in  Wisconsin  in  1843  about  two  hundred  and 
fifty.  Probably  the  number  at  its  greatest  was  not  far  from 
three  hundred.  Some  few  never  removed  and  some  who  did  so 
afterwards  returned  and  died  in  their  old  home.  They  decreased, 
however,  rapidly  ;  and  when  after  the  late  war  one  of  the 
tribe,  Lyman  P.  Fowler,  visited  the  old  Oneida  town,  he  found 
himself  among  strangers.  He  brightened  the  memories  of  the 
past  by  visiting  the  home  of  Thomas  Dean's  daughter — a 
gracious  woman  whom  the  Indians  called  Lady  Catlin  ;  but 
he  could  scarcely  identify  the  landmarks  of  his  youth.  The 
remnant  in  the  town  had  melted  away  and  everything  about 
was  changed.  He  sorrowfully  climbed  the  hill  on  the  shoulder 
of  which  Samuel  Kirkland's  college  is  now  situated,  and 
stopped  half  way  up — as  many  another  returning  pilgrim  has 


THE  LAST  REMOVE  327 

done — at  the  residence  of  Professor  Edward  North,  and  there 
related  the  fact  that  in  the  old  Indian  town  of  by-gone  days 
he  had  seen  on  a  fence-post  near  their  burial-place  an  Indian 
skull.  In  1893,  when  the  writer  visited  Deansville  in  search 
of  the  grave  of  Samson  Occom,  he  could  find  only  one  Indian 
in  the  town  ;  and  he  was  the  aged  "  Billy  Paul,"  a  descendant 
of  both  Samson  Occom  and  David  Fowler,  spending  his  linger- 
ing years  in  the -white  man's  poorhouse  ! 

The  township  granted  to  the  Brothertown  Indians  by  the 
treaty  of  1832  extended  four  miles  north  and  south  on  Winne- 
bago Lake  and  eight  miles  east  and  west.  Two  roads  were 
laid  out  in  straight  parallel  lines  leading  north  and  south,  the 
westernmost  about  a  quarter  of  a  mile  from  the  lake,  called 
the  "  Base  Line  Road,"  and  another  eastward  called  ''  Turkey 
Street."  A  so-called  "  iMilitary  Road,"  built  by  Colonel  Scott 
for  the  use  of  troops,  ran  north  and  south  between  these,  and 
on  this  the  village  of  Brothertown  is  now  located.  The  town 
was  not  laid  out  in  lots  until  1839,  in  which  year  they  received 
the  honors  of  citizenship  in  the  United  States.  An  act  of 
Congress,  passed  March  3,  1839,  Provided  that  their  land 
could  be  divided  and  held  in  fee  simple. ^^  Commissioners' 
were  then  appointed.  The  old  town  voted,  May  6,  1839,  that 
the  Green  Bay  lands  should  be  divided  that  season,  that  one 
share  should  be  given  to  adults  and  one-half  share  to  minors 
and  that  the  latter  should  also  be  apportioned  to  females  who 
had  married  outside  of  the  tribe.  Thomas  Dean  was  sent  to 
attend  upon  this  business.  The  land  proved  to  be  of  the  best 
character  for  their  agricultural  purposes.  It  is  claimed  by 
them  that  the  bounds  of  their  grant  were  unlawfully  altered 
and    the    only   reason    they  can   give   for  this  is   that   it  was 

12  The  deeds  reciting  this  act  were  on  parchment  and  were  signed  by  John  Tyler, 
Prest.  There  were  two  hundred  and  forty  lots  in  all  and  each  Indian  had  a  fifty- 
acre  lot  and  a  fraction  of  twelve  and  one  half  acres.  At  the  present  time  twenty-five 
families  hold  lands  there  and  some  of  them  are  on  their  original  claims.  'J  he  early 
mill  locations  were  held  by  David  and  William  Fowler  until  their  leases  expired. 


328  SAMSON  OCCOM 

"too  good  land  for  Indians."  At  first  they  named  their  town 
Deansborough,  though  a  certain  locality  was  called  Pequot. 
It  was  also  known  as  Manchester.  The  name  is  now  Brother- 
town,  in  remembrance  of  their  old  home. 

The  county  called  Calumet  was  formed  the  year  after  their 
admission  to  citizenship,  by  an  act  approved  January  6,  1840. 
The  first  election  was  held  in  the  house  of  Elkanah  Dick. 
John  Johnson,  Daniel  Dick  and  David  Fowler  were  chosen 
county  commissioners  and  the  other  offices  were  filled  by 
David  Johnson,  O.  D.  Fowler,  Simeon  Hart  and  John  John- 
son, Jr.  The  first  session  of  the  county  commissioners  was 
held  in  the  house  of  David  Fowler,  March  11,  1840.  John 
Johnson  was  elected  chairman,  and  Daniel  Dick,  clerk.  Will- 
iam Dick  was  treasurer,  and  James  Wauby  and  Alexander  G. 
Dick  were  constables.  The  county  was  divided  into  two 
assessment  and  election  districts.  At  this  time  the  value  of 
real  and  personal  property  in  the  county  was  $68,320,  upon 
which  a  tax  of  nine  mills  was  assessed.  This  early  county 
organization  gave  place,  a  few  years  later,  to  one  in  which  the 
whites  participated.  Some  of  the  tribe  have  attained  honors 
in  public  office.  William  Fowler,  Alonzo  D.  and  \\'illiam  H. 
Dick  have  served  as  members  of  the  Wisconsin  legislature. 

In  early  days  they  formed  no  new  ecclesiastical  organiza- 
tion. After  the  coming  of  their  elders,  Benjamin  G.  Fowler 
and  Thomas  Dick,  they  had  preachers  of  their  own.  David 
Fowler  was  for  years  a  deacon  among  them.  About  1840,  a 
Methodist  church  was  organized  and  a  small  meeting-house 
built.  The  congregation  was  successively  ministered  to  by 
neighboring  clergymen,  especially  from  Duck  Creek,  named 
Poe,  Frink,  Clark  and  Halsted.  Thomas  Commuck  was  their 
first  postmaster,  and  he  and  Randall  Abner  were  justices  of 
the  peace  and  performed  their  marriages.  The  "Indian 
Melodies "  which  Commuck  issued  was  never  very  exten- 
sively used  by  them,  though  copies  are  preserved  and  highly 


THE  LAST  REMOVE 


329 


regarded  in  their  homes.  Its  author  was  himself  a  singer. 
He  was  an  eccentric  man,  of  remarkable  memory,  and  a  liter- 
ary turn  of  mind.^^  Since  the  days  of  the  first  emigration 
they  have  used  the  English  language.  It  is  remembered 
among  them,  however,  that  sometimes  a  group  of  old  ladies — 
Pually  Mossuck,  Martha  Paul  and  Lucy  Waukeet — would 
carry  on  their  private  gossip  in  the  musical  tongue  to  which 
they  had  been  born. 

During  the  early  years  of  the  town  they  made  encouraging 
progress  in  agriculture.  Their  farms  were  cleared  and  sub- 
stantial buildings  were  erected.  Among  their  number  were 
those  who  were  skilled  in  the  trades.  The  work  on  the  first 
steamboat  which  was  built  on  Lake  Winnebago,  under  the 
superintendence  of  Peter  Hoteling  and  called  "The  Man- 
chester" and  later  the  "Fountain  City,"  was  done  largely  by 
Deacon  David  Fowler.  Gradually,  however,  a  change  has 
been  going  on.  When  the  parents  died,  the  younger  genera- 
tion sought  brighter  prospects  in  other  employments.  Some 
are  engaged  on  railroads  and  some  on  the  lakes.  Others 
turned  to  trade.  The  foreign  elements  began  to  come  in, 
mostly  Germans,  and  buy  out  the  Indians.  Some  emigrated 
farther  west,  to  Minnesota,  Kansas,  Nebraska  and  even  to 
California.  At  the  present  time  there  are  probably  not  more 
than  one  hundred  and  fifty  of  the  tribe  within  the  town,  which 
has  a  population  of  fifteen  hundred.  Their  village,  located 
about  half  a  mile  from  the  lake,  comprises  about  twenty 
houses,  a  store  or  two,  the  church,  a  schoolhouse  and  their 
town  hall.  In  one  of  these  stores,  Edgar  M.  Dick,  a  lineal 
descendant  of  a  bloodthirsty  Narragansett,  will  cut  your  hair, 
and,  with  more  consideration  than  his  ancestor  had,  will  leave 
the  scalp.  They  have  the  reputation  of  being  a  respecta- 
ble and   worthy  people.      In    morals   and    religion    they  com- 

13  See  Sketch   of  the  Brotherioivn  Indians^    Wis.  Hist.   Soc.   Coll.,  IV,  291  ;  and 
Sketch  of  Caluvut  County,  Ibid.,  I,  103,  by  Thomas  Commuck. 


330  SAMSON  OCCOAf 

pare  favorably  with  the  whites  round  about  them.  For  more 
than  sixty  years  since  they  located  in  that  wilderness,  not 
one  of  their  number  ever  saw  the  inside  of  the  state  prison. 
The  visitor  among  them  will  readily  recognize  the  peculiar 
traits  of  Indian  character.  Reserve  and  caution  distinguish 
them.  Some  are  as  keen  in  discernment  as  their  ancestors 
were  on  the  war-path.  The  place  is  an  interesting  field  for 
the  ethnologist,  for  the  types  of  the  ancient  tribes  of  New 
England  are  still  to  be  observed  among  them.  The  Narra- 
gansett  is  there  with  his  athletic  figure  and  easy  poise,  the 
Mjhegan  wiih  his  intelligent  face  and  the  Montauk  with  his 
sturdy  frame.  An  admixture  of  boih  white  and  negro  blood 
is  clearly  visible,  but  it  is  known  to  have  taken  place  in  alli- 
ances before  they  left  New  England.  Children  of  the  same 
parents  exhibit  the  greatest  variety,  in  features,  in  shades  of 
Color  and  expression  of  countenance,  though  all  are  distinctly 
Indian.  The  tribe  still  maintains  a  unity  in  an  organization, 
a  relic  of  their  Indian  town,  and  they  have  duly  chosen  "  Head- 
men." In  1895  these  were  James  Simons,  Edgar  M.  Dick, 
Lathrop  Fowler,  Oscar  Johnson,  John  E.  Ham  mar  and  Theo- 
dore Dick.  This  office  conveys  no  more  authority  than  the 
tribe  choose  to  give.  It  has  been  perpetuated  in  large  meas- 
ure by  the  necessity  of  their  land  claim. 

Among  these  survivors  of  the  Christian  Indians  of  New 
England  it  is  believed  that  their  numbers  are  slowly  decreas- 
ing. "  Here  we  have  taken  our  stand,"  wrote  Thomas  Cum- 
muck,  "and  are  resolved  to  meet  manfully  that  overwhelming 
tide  of  fate  which  seems  destined  in  a  few  short  years  to 
sweep  the  Red  Man  from  the  face  of  existence."  The  chill 
winds  which  blow  between  the  lake  on  their  west  and  the 
greater  Michigan  on  their  east,  are  favorable  to  that  terrible 
disease,  consumption,  which  has  always  carried  many  to  the 
grave.  Their  burial-place  near  at  hand  has  gathered  most  of 
the  founders.     Only   a  few   remain,   whose    memories,  amply 


EDGAR    M.    DICK 


"V 


LATHROP    FOWLER 


OSCAR   JOHNSON 


HEADMEN    OF    THE    BRO'lHERTOWN    INDIANS 


THE   LAST  REMOVE  33 1 

proven  on  many  points  to  be  most  retentive  and  accurate, 
reach  back  to  the  times  and  scenes  of  their  Oneida  home. 
Elias  Dick,  whose  frame  in  its  stalwart  days  would  have  done 
honor  to  a  Narragansett  sachem  ;  Hannah  Cummuck,  in  whom 
the  trials  of  many  years  have  ripened  an  auturrinal  glory; 
Rowland  Johnson,  distinguished  in  dignity  and  gentleness  ; 
and  Rebecca  Johnson,  the  storehouse  of  all  the  facts  and 
traditions  of  their  tribal  history — these,  who  have  contributed 
invaluable  details  to  this  narrative,  will  long  be  remembered 
by  their  white  friend. 

Here  speaks  the  sage  of  Brothertown,  John  Collins  Fow- 
ler, a  grandson  of  the  faithful  David  of  early  times:  "The 
Indian,  whatever  his  present  state,  can  be  civilized  and  made 
a  useful  citizen  of  this  great  Republic;  but  his  nature  is  differ- 
ent from  that  of  the  white  man.  He  is  easily  tempted  by  the 
fire-water,  which  has  been  his  curse  since  men  have  known 
him.  The  white  man  is  energetic,  ambitious,  over-reaching. 
The  Indian  is  content  with  little,  sluggish,  and  he  cannot  hold 
on  to  what  he  gets.  It  is  not  for  the  Indians  to  have  any- 
thing. They  should  never  live  in  the  same  community  with 
the  whites,  for  they  will  soon  be  stripped  of  all  they  have  and 
left  by  the  roadside.  Ah  !  yes,  my  people  are  dying  away, 
and  we  shall  soon  be  gone." 

The  Montauk  Indians  of  Samson  Occom's  day  had  a  belief 
in  the  existence  of  souls  after  death,  and  that  the  spirits  of 
good  Indians  go  to  the  westward,  where  they  exercise  them- 
selves in  dancing  and  pleasurable  singing  forever  in  the  pres- 
ence of  the  western  God!  Westward  they  have  been  going 
ever  since  the  Pilgrims  landed.  Some  day  may  they  find  there 
the  land  of  plenty  and  of  peace.  Ere  another  century  has 
passed  may  those  words  be  true  which  the  Oneida  sachem 
Onondega  uttered  to  a  Commencement  audience  at  Dartmouth 
College  a  century  ago,  "  The  light  begins  a  little  to  break 
away  from  yonder  wilderness  toward  the  setting  of  the  sun." 


APPENDIX 


TRACT    OF    Lf\NJD    ZOl-0-  l-]f]S. 
1466.2.    ACRES. 


A — Samson  Occom's  house 
B — David  Fowler's  house 
C— Old     Indian      Burying- 

ground 
D — New  Cemetery 
E— Lot  of  David  Fowler,  Jr., 

and  Thomas, Dean,  Deans- 

ville 
F— Diigway  Burying-ground 
G— Old  Mill 
H — Old  Scboolhouse 
Indian  Road  of  1795 


MAP   OF   BROTHERTOWN 

p.  Gifford,  Surveyor,  1S2S 


APPENDIX 


FAMILY    HISTORY 

OF   THE 

BROTHERTOWN    INDIANS 


Abner, — Pequot  tribe,  Stonington,  Conn.  In  1762  an  Indian 
called  "Abner,''  aged  45,  was  living  in  a  wigwam  at  Mushantuxet  in 
Groton.  He  had  six  children.  James  Abner,  who  with  his  wife 
Mary  was  living  at  Lantern  Hill,  Stonington,  in  1788,  was  doubtless 
a  son  and  the  father  of  Randall. 

Randall  Abner,  born  June  4,  1789,  at  Stonington,  married  Sarah 
Tocus.  They  moved  to  Stephentown,  N.  Y.,  and  thence  in  18  19  to 
Brothertown.  He  received  lot  86.  in  1823;  was  a  peacemaker  from 
1823  to  1831  ;  removed  to  Wisconsin  in  1831  and  to  Kansas  later, 
where  he  died  in  1852,  ae.  63,  and  she  Apr.  9,  1869,  as.  73.  Chn.  : 
I.  Hannah  Abigail,  b.  Aug.  21,  1814,  m.  Thomas  Commuck.  II. 
Rebecca,  b.  Mar.  2,  18 16,  m.  (i)  Simeon  Adams,  (2)  John  W. 
Johnson.  III.  Rmdall,  who  went  to  iNebraska.  IV.  Joseph,  who 
was  lost  at  sea.  V.  Silvia,  m.  Daniel  Skeesuck.  VI.  Lucy.  m.  (i) 
Stowe,  (2)  Coffin  VII.  Marietta,  m.  John  Welch.  VIII.  Roxy. 
IX.  James.     X.   Denison,  who  went  to  Kansas.     XL   Grace. 

Adams.  Adam,  _ Tunxis  tribe.  Farmington,  Conn.  A  Quinnipiac 
Indim,  nicknam  d  "Adun,'"of  East  H.iven,  "bought  of  a  squaw" 
land  at  Farmington,  which  he  divided  Nov.  3,  1756.  between  his  sons, 
John  and  Samuel  Adam.  He  signed  as  "Jacob  Adam."  but  Oct.  10, 
1776,  he  is  "Thorn  IS  Adams  late  deceased."  He  was  the  head  man 
of  the  Q  liniiipiic  Indians  who  exchanged  rights  at  New  Haven  for 
lands  at  Farmington.  removed  thither  and  were  adopted  by  the  Tunxis 
tribe.      In  1770  he  was  aged  and  infirm  and  soon  after  died. 

Jolin  Ad  ims  (lAdam).  New  Haven,  1756,  and  of  age,  married  Sarah 
and  moved  to  Farmin^^ton.     He  was  a  councilor  and  landowner; 


336  APPENDIX 

a  soldier  in  the  French  wars  and  the  Revolution  ;  was  at  Stockbridge, 
Mass.;  and  a  founder  of  Brothertown,  where  he  soon  died.  Chn.  : 
I.  John,  b.  1755.  II.  Sarah,  m.  Abraham  Simons.  111.  Simeon. 
IV.   Samuel. 

John  Adams  (2  John,  1  Adam)  was  an  early  settler  at  Brothertown, 
where  he  received  lot  126  in  1795.  He  married  later  "  Widow  Sarah 
Davies,"  born  in  1748,  owner  ot  lot  6,  and  died  before  1804,  without 
issue.  His  lot  w.is  then  assigned  to  Eliphalet  Adams  (Marthers), 
subject  to  the  dower  ot  Widow  Sarah. 

Simeon  Adams  (2John,  ^Adam)  was  a  soldier  in  Capt.  Elisha  Lee's 
company  in  1776.  He  moved  to  Brothertown  before  1799,  and  had 
lots  99  and  124  in  1804.  He  died  about  1829,  his  heirs  being  his 
brother  Samuel's  children. 

Samuel  Adams  (^John,  1  Adam)  married  Mary,  daughter  of  David 
Fowler,  and  settled  at  Brothertown.  He  had  been  a  soldier  in  the 
Revolution,  enlisted  in  the  War  of  181 2,  and  was  killed  at  Black 
Rock.  She  was  living  at  Brothertown  in  1 81 7.  Chn.:  1.  Thankful, 
m.  Stevens.  II.  John,  who  with  his  wife  Sally  removed  to  Wisconsin 
in  1832,  and  died  at  Dickenson's  Mills.  111.  Simeon,  who  m.  Rebecca 
Abner,  moved  to  Wisconsin  and  died  there.  IV.  Hannah,  m.  Solo- 
mon Paul.  V.  Emeline,  m.  Lothrop  Dick.  Edwin  C.  Adams,  alias 
Edwin  Edwards  or  Edwin  Hathaway,  an  orphan,  v\-as  brought  up  in 
this  family.  He  m.  Lovina  Matthews,  and  moved  to  Brothertown, 
Wis.  Tlieir  son,  Arthur  Adams,  was  in  Co.  G,  36th  Wis.  Vols.,  and 
died  in  Andersonville  prison  Sept.  2,  1864. 

Samuel  Adams  (lAdam)  was  born  in  1734.  and  married  Hannah 
Squamp  of  the  Wangunk  tiibe,  by  whom  he  had  rights  in  the  Matta- 
besett  lands  at  xMiddletown,  Conn.  Both  were  well  educated.  He 
was  a  soldier  in  Capt  John  Patterson's  company  in  1756,  and  in 
Capt.  Timothy  Northam's  company,  ist  Regt  N.  Y.  troops,  in  1762. 
He  was  a  councilor  and  landowner  at  Farmington  ;  an  early  settler  at 
Brothertown;  was  driven  out  by  the  war,  and  went  to  Hancock, 
Mass.  He  returned  to  Brothertown  and  in  1795  received  lot  7,  where 
he  had  built  his  first  hut.  He  died  about  1800.  Ch.  :  Solomon, 
and  perhaps  others. 

Solomon  Adams  (2 Samuel,  lAdam)  received  part  of  lot  52  at 
Farmington  from  his  father,  March  21,  1782.  He  married  Olive, 
daughter  of  Rev.  Samson  Occom,  was  a  soldier  in  the  Revolution, 
and  died  about  1783.  His  widow  held  "  a  part  of  the  5th  lot  west  of 
the  Indian  tract  and  the  house  thereon,"  whence  she  afterwards  emi- 
grated to  eastern  New  York.  Chn.  :  I.  Philena,  m.  (i)  James  Wau- 
cus,  (2)  Thomas  Crosley.  II.  Damaris,  m.  Jacob  Thomas.  III. 
Ellen,  New  Marlboro,  Mass.  These  sold  their  father's  rights  at 
Farmington  in  1801.  Probably  also  there  was  a  son  David,  who  re- 
ceived lot  134  at  Brothertowai  in  1797,  and  died  without  issue. 


APPENDIX 


337 


Anthony, — Narragansett  tribe,  Charlestown,  R.  I.  A  number  of 
Indians  bearing  this  n  ime  were  living  there  in  1750.  John  Anthony 
m.irried  Sarah,  the  widow  of  George  Ninegret,  A  Cluirles  Anthony 
resided  there  in  1763,  and  thence  tlie  Brothcrtown  emigrant  came. 

Charles  Anihony  was  a  later  settler  at  Brothertown.  He  married 
Lorinda  Brushel,  who  inherited  rights  in  several  lots  sold  1828-1835. 
He  was  town  mirsiial  from  1828  to  1832.  They  moved  to  Wisconsin 
about  1837,  and  died  there.     Ch.  :   Lowana. 

Brushel,  Brushil,  Brushill,  Brusheill, — Mohegan  tribe,  Mo- 
hegan,  Conn.  This  family  vvas  not  of  the  early  Mohegan  stock.  The 
name  is  not  found  in  lists  made  so  late  as  1782.  In  recent  times 
some  of  that  name  have  lived  at  Mohegan,  and  Sam  Brushel,  who 
died  there  in  1882,  aged  37,  claimed  to  have  royal  blood.  Probably 
an  Indian  of  another  tribe  married  a  Mohegan  woman  and  was 
adopted. 

Abigail  Brushel  appeared  at  Brothertown  in  1796,  a  widow,  and 
received  lot  46,  which  was  sold  in  1829  for  the  benefit  of  "  Widow 
Abigail."  She  had  sons  Samuel  and  Sampson,  and  probably  Mary, 
John,  Lemuel  and  Timothy  were  also  her  children,  Mary  had  lot  47 
in  1804;  John  lots  38  and  39  in  1804;  Lemuel  lot  44  in  1797;  and 
Timothy  lot  ']t^  in  1796.  Lemuel  died  about  1827  without  issue. 
Timothy  died  on  a  man-of-war  and  his  widow  and  son  Samuel 
inherited  his  lot. 

Samuel  Brushel  (lAbigail),  born  in  1772,  and  his  wife  Esther, 
born  in  1774,  received  lot  25,  in  1795.  She  died  and  he  married 
Abigail  Skeesuck.  The  lot  was  sold  for  their  benefit  in  1828.  Chn.  : 
L  Thomas,  m.  Hannah  Ciijep.  11.  Nancy,  m.  Hart.  111.  Henry. 
IV.  Lucinda,  m.  Welch,  removed  to  Wisconsin,  and  died.  V.  Sam- 
uel, m.  Nancy  Welch.     VI.   Lydia,  m.  Aaron  Toucee. 

Henry  Brushel  (2 Samuel,  ^Abigail),  born  June  24,  18 14,  married 
Nancy  Welch  Brushel,  his  brother's  widow.  They  moved  to  Wis- 
consin, where  he  died  Sept.  24,  1864,  and  she  April  7,  1864,  aged  55. 
Chn.  :  I.  Samuel,  a  soldier  in  the  Civil  War,  who  died  after  his 
return.  II.  Frances.  III.  Almira.  IV,  Nancy  E.,  d.  Feb.  15, 
1865,  ae.  25. 

Sampson  Brushel  (^Abigail),  born  in  1774,  had  lots  127  and  34  at 
Brothertown.  He  married  Betsey  Ceipet,  by  whom  he  had  Lorinda, 
who  married  Charles  Anthony,  and  possibly  a  son  Benjamin.  They 
died  at  Brothertown. 

Ceipet,  Cebit,  Seepet,  Seabpeet.  Benjamin  Ceipet  and  Han- 
nah his  wife  received  lot  35  at  Brothertown  in  1804.  He  died  about 
1807  and  she  about  1828.  They  left  a  daughter  Betsey,  a  son  Daniel, 
and  possibly  other  children. 

23 


338  APPENDIX 

Charles.  There  were  families  of  this  name  at  Montauk,  L.  I., 
Farmingtoii,  Conn.,  and  Charlestown,  R.  I.  An  Indian  so  named, 
probably  of  the  latter  place,  marrit-d  Rhoda,  daughter  of  James  Niles, 
who  as  a  widow  settled  at  Brothertown  and  received  lot  32  in  1804, 
She  married  later  Daniel  Wauby.  Two  youth,  John  and  Mary 
Charles,  living  with  John  Tuhie  in  1795,  were  doubtless  her  children, 
the'  former  inheriting  as  an  heir  of  James  Niles.  She  also  had  a 
daughter  Olive  who  moved  to  Wisconsin.  John  Charles,  born  in 
1789.  is  thoujiht  to  have  been  the  fatiier  of  Oliver  Charles,  grandson 
ot  Rhoda  and  heir  in  1843.  Josiah  Charles,  whose  relation  to  the 
above  is  unknown,  received  lot  102  at  BrothertSwn  in  1804,  married 
Jerusha,  daughter  of  George  Peters,  and  died  about  1828.  Their 
only  child  Eunice  m.  (i)  David  Toucee ;    (2)  William  Crosley. 

COCHEATT,  CoCHEAKS,  OuoCHEETS, — Pequot  tribe,  Groton,  Conn. 
This  was  a  prominent  family  at  Mushantuxet,  the  earliest  of  the  name 
being  Daniel,  who,  in  1762,  aged  60,  was  living  there  in  a  wigwam, 
having  a  family  of  six.  A  descendant,  Charles  Cocheatt,  was  a  late 
comer  at  Brothertown,  having  lot  82  in  1831.  He  married  Sophia 
Crosley.     Chn.  :  Joseph,  Josiah,  Hannah,  and  Malinda. 

CocHEGAN,  COCHEGION, — Mohegan  tribe,  Mohegan,  Conn.  Solo- 
mon Cochegan,  born  about  1735,  was  an  early  settler  at  Brothertown, 
living  on  lot  114,  which  was  given  to  his  widow  Hannah,  aged  60, 
after  his  death  in  1794.  They  had  a  daughter  Mehitable,  who  with 
an  infant  child  Johanna,  lived  with  them,  and  a  son  Solomon,  who 
received  lot  61  in  1797,  and  was  probably  the  father  of  Hannah  and 
Lucy  Cochegan,  heirs  to  lot  114  in  1834. 

COMMUCK,  CuMMUCK,  CoMMACH, — Narragansett  tribe,  Charles- 
town,  R.  I.  In  1766  an  Indian  named  "Commach"  was  living 
there,  and  Patience  Cummuck,  the  only  other  of  the  name,  may  have 
been  his  wife.  A  son  or  grandson,  Joseph  Commuck,  became  a 
councilor  in  1802,  and  both  he  and  his  wife  died  a  few  years  there- 
after, leaving  two  young  sons,  James  and  Thomas. 

Thomas  Commuck  (1  Joseph),  born  Jan.  18,  1804,  at  Charlestown, 
received  a  fair  education  in  his  youth,  which  was  increased  by  habits 
of  reading  throughout  his  life.  He  emigrated  to  Brothertown  before 
1825,  and  received  the  west  half  of  lot  85  in  1831,  to  be  sold  that  he 
might  remove  to  Wisconsin.  He  married,  July  31,  1831,  Hannah, 
daughter  of  Randall  Abner.  They  were  first  settlers  in  the  Green 
Bay  home.  He  was  the  first  postmaster  of  Brothertown,  Wis.,  a 
Justice  of  the  Peace  and  prominent  in  the  affairs  of  the  tribe.    Besides 


APPENDIX 


339 


several  historical  papers  he  printed  the  •'  Indian  Melodies."  He  died 
Nov.  25,  1855.  His  widow  is  still  living  at  Brothertown,  Wis.,  and 
enjoys  a  vigorous  old  age  in  the  home  of  Edgar  M.  Dick.  Chn.  : 
I.  Alzuma,  b.  Nov.  14,  1832,  m.  Toxuse.  \\.  Thomas  Mirvan,  b. 
Nov.  26,  1835,  a  soldier  in  the  Civil  War,  who  died  in  Iowa  in  1S92. 
III.  Sarah  Prentiss,  b.  Apr.  12,  1838,  m.  Orville  A.  Hart.  IV. 
Worthington,  b.  Aug.  31,  1840,  d.  Feb.  i,  1863,  in  Libby  Prison — 
a  soldier  in  Co.  E,  21st  Wis.  Vols.  V.  Victoria,  b.  June  11,  1842. 
VI.  Helen,  b.  Aug.  4,  1844,  m.  Frank  La  Belle.  VII.  Theresa,  b. 
Sept.  29,  1846.  Vlll.  Bertha,  b.  Sept.  8,  1848.  IX.  Alice  E.,  b. 
June  12,  1851  ;  m.  Rhodolphus  M.  Fowler.  X.  Omer  Pasha,  b. 
May  25,  1854. 

CoYHis,-  Covs,  COHOIZE,  CoGHOOiszE, —  Narragansett  tribe, 
Charlestown,  R.  I.  Toby  Cohoize,  born  in  1673  ^'^"^  living  in  1763, 
was  doubtless  the  father  of  Ephraim,  the  councilor  of  1747,  then  aged 
44.  Ephraim  had  a  son  Ephraim,  who  also  became  councilor  and 
fought  in  the  French  wars.  The  latter  had  a  son  William,  under 
16  \ears  of  age  in  1761. 

William  Coyhis  (^Ephraim,  1  Ephraim)  married  Mary ,  a  white 

woman,  and  moved  to  Brothertown  about  1800.  He  had  sons  to 
whom  lot  72  was  assigned  in  1804,  on  condition  that  they  support 
their  white  mother,  who  was  a  widow,  her  husband  dying  in  May, 
1804.  He  was  town  clerk  from  1802  to  1804.  Of  his  sons,  John 
only  grew  to  manhood  and  received  lot  72  in  1824. 

John  Coyhis  (^  William,  "-^  Ephraim,  1  Ephraim)  married  Martha, 
daughter  of  Asa  Dick.  He  received  part  of  lot  52  in  18  [4,  where 
both  lived  and  died.  Chn.:  I.  Isaac  C.  II.  John  R.,  m.  Sophia 
Sampson.  III.  Benjamin  J.,  who  moved  to  Wisconsin.  Hem.  (i) 
Laura,  d.  Jan  14,  1875,  ae.  58;  (2)  Rosella  S.,  d.  Sept.  9,  1880, 
ae.  29. 

Crosley.  This  family  is  said  to  have  been  of  tlie  Pequot  tribe  at 
Stonington,  Conn.  George  Crosley,  born  in  1748,  was  an  early 
settler  at  Brothertown,  living  on  lot  2.  In  1795  he  had  a  wife  Lorn- 
hamah,  born  in  1754,  and  six  children.  His  second  wife  was  Eliza- 
beth Fowler,  widow  of  Obadiah  Scippio.  He  lived  to  old  age,  held 
several  town  offices  and  died  at  Brothertown  Chn.  :  I.  Grace,  b. 
1776,  m.  Joseph  Tocus.  II.  Thomas,  b.  1783.  III.  Nathan,  b. 
1785,  d.  at  B.  IV.  Katharine,  b.  1787,  m.  William  Dick.  V. 
Elizabeth,  b.  1790,  m.  John   Hammer. 

Thomas  Crosley  (i  George)  received  lot  76  in  1804,  and  married 
Philena,  daughter  of  Solomon  Adams  and  Olive  Occom,  and 
widow  of  James  Waucus.  He  was  town  clerk  from  1809  to  181 2. 
He  also  held  lots  96  and  97.     Chn.:   I.   William.     II.   Sophronia,  m. 


340  APPENDIX 

Doxstater.  III.  Lucenette  (Lureanett),  b.  1807,  m.  Alonzo  D.  Dick. 
Lurea  Uick  of  Manchester,  Wis.,  certified  in  1844  ihat  her  mother 
was  Dimiss  Kuish,  a  granddaughter  of  Philip  Kuisli.  If  so,  Thomas 
Crosley  married  a  second  wife. 

William  Crosley  (2  Thomas,  ^  George),  born  about  1805,  with  his 
sister  Sophronia,  inherited  his  father's  lot  in  1828,  removed  to  Wis- 
consni  in  1836  and  there  died  in  1866.  He  married  (i)  Hannah, 
dau.  of  William  Dick,  ist,  (2)  Aurilla,  dau.  of  Tnomas  Dick,  (3) 
Eunice  Charles  Toucee,  dau.  of  Josiah  Charles  and  widow  of  David 
Toucee,  who  died  in  1880,  ae.  66.  Chn.  :  I.  John,  m.  Paimelia, 
dau.  of  Hezekiah  Fowler.  II  Caroline,  m.  Daniel  Jakewa\s.  III. 
Grace  Ann,  m.  Albert  D.  Cottrell.     IV.    Serepta,  m.  Elias  Dick. 

CujEP,  Chuchip, — probably  of  the  Pequot  tribe,  Groton,  Conn.  In 
1795  Prudence  CujVp,  widow,  aged  39,  received  lot  104  at  Brother- 
town.  She  had  a  son  Henry,  aged  12.  Probably  her  husband  emi- 
grated with  her  and  died  before  1795.  She  married  2d,  Gideon 
Harry,  and  died  at  Brothertown,  where  her  gravestone  has  the  epi- 
taph— "  In  memory  of  Prude  Harry,  Daughter  of  Sampson  and 
Eunice  Pouquenup,  Feb.  24,  1828."  Hannah  Cujep,  who  married 
Thomas  Brushel,  may  have  been  the  widow  of  Henry. 

CURRICOMB,  CORCOM,  CURRACOiVlP,  CORRECOMPT,  ACCORRECOMPT, 

— Tunxis  tribe,  Farmington,  Conn.  This  was  a  prominent  Indian 
family  of  the  original  Tunxis  stock.  Andrew  Correcompt  owned 
several  tracts  of  land  at  Farmington.  He  served  during  the  French 
wars  in  Capt.  Aaron  Hitchcock's  company  in  1756,  in  Col.  Nathan 
Whiting's  company  in  1760,  and  in  Capt.  Samuel  Dimock's  company, 
N.  Y.  troops,  in  1762. 

Andrew  Curricomb  (^  Andrew),  born  in  1747,  was  prominent  in  the 
emigration  plans,  and  an  early  settler  at  Brothertown.  After  the 
Revolution,  in  which  he  is  said  to  have  served  while  at  West  Stock- 
bridge,  Mass.,  he  returned  to  Oneida  with  his  family.  He  settled  on 
lots  120  and  121,  which  were  divided  among  his  heirs  in  18 18.  His 
wife's  name  was  Abigail.  Chn.  :  I.  Elizabeth,  b.  1768,  m.  Benjamin 
Toucee.  II.  Anne,  b.  1770,  m.  James  Wiggins.  III.  Abigail,  b. 
1778.  IV.  Eliakim,  b.  1780.  V.  Thomas  (?).  b.  July  14,  1786. 
VI.  Jesse,  b.  1791.  VII.  Moses,  b.  1794,  d.  about  1815.  Eliza- 
beth and  Anne  were  probably  children  by  a  first  wife.  Eliakim  mar- 
ried Martha  Onion  and  received  lots  57  and  58  in  1804.  He  re- 
moved about  1828. 

Jesse  Curricomb  in  181 8  inherited  lots  120  and  121,  with  his 
brother  Eliakim,  David  Toucee  and  the  heirs  of  Anne  Wiggins,  and 
he  had  lot  142  assigned  to  him  in  1824.  His  wife's  name  was  Phebe, 
who  died  before  1834,  when  her  husband  and  son  John  removed  to 
Wisconsin.     The  son  was  drowned  in  Fox  River. 


APPENDIX  341 

CusK,  AsKUSK,  AcKUST, — Tunxis  tribe,  Farmington.  Conn.  "  disk, 
Indian/'  dt-eded  to  his  son  James  Cusk  a  house  and  land  at  Indian 
Neck,  Faimin<j;ton,  in  1761,  where  the  son  afterwards  livtd.  He  was 
interested  in  the  emigration  in  1775,  bin  never  removed  permanently. 
For  a  time  his  home  was  at  Saratoga,  N.  Y. 

Davies.  Henry  Davies,  of  a  tribe  unknown,  was  an  early  settler 
at  Brothertown,  and  lived  on  lot  6,  which  after  his  death  in  1794 
was  given  to  his  widow  Sarah,  who  married  a  second  husband,  John 
Adams. 

Deshon.  Felix  Deshon,  of  the  Pequot  tribe,  at  Mushantuxet,  was 
prominent  in  tribal  aflfairs  in  1774,  but  he  did  not  remove  to  Brother- 
town  until  1804,  when  he  received  a  part  of  lot  113,  where  he  lived 
until  his  death,  about  1816. 

Dick, —  Narragansett  tribe,  Charlestown,  R.  I.  This  family  was 
neither  large  nor  prominent  in  the  mother  tribe  to  which  tradition 
unanimously  assigns  it.  Tribal  lists  give  only  the  name  of  "  Widow 
Mary  Dick,"  and  the  connection  shows  that  she  had  children  attend- 
ing Edward  Deake's  school.  We  conjecture  that  William  and  Isaac 
Dick,  afterw^ards  of  Brothertown,  were  her  sons.  The  relationship  of 
Paul  and  Thomas  Dick  to  these  brothers  is  undetermined.  *^They 
may  have  been  also  sons  of  Mary  Dick,  or  elder  sons  of  Isaac.  One 
fact,  however,  is  perplexing.  Lots  were  assigned  in  1799  to  Isaac 
and  Paul  Richards,  which  are  put  down  in  1804  to  Isaac  and  Paul 
Dick.  The  name  Richards  is  not  found  among  the  tribe.  We  sup- 
pose that  the  superintendents  at  first  thought  that  the  name  "Dick" 
was  a  nickname. 

William  Dick  was  born  in  Charlestown  about  1755,  married  Han- 
nah Potter,  probably  a  daughter  of  Daniel  and  Mary  Potter,  removed 
to  Brothertown  about  1799,  and  was  from  the  first  a  prominent  man 
there.  He  settled  on  lot  [35,  assigned  to  him  in  1804,  arid  died 
about  18T4.  Chn.  :  I.  William.  II.  Elkanah.  III.  Laton.  IV. 
Lothrop,  m.  Emeline  Adams.  He  had  lot  124,  went  to  Wisconsin 
in  1836,  and  was  drowned  in  Fox  River.  V.  Patience,  m.  James  Fow- 
ler, and  as  a  widow  removed  to  Wis.  with  her  children  in  1834.  VI. 
Lucena,  m.  George  Sampson.  VII.  Elizabeth,  m.  Rhodolphus 
Fowler.  VIII.  Abigail,  m.  David  Johnson.  IX.  Grace.  X.  Han- 
nah, m.  William  Crosley.  XI.  Thankful,  m.  Skeesuck.  The  widow, 
Hannah  Dick,  with  her  daughters,  Abigail  and  Thankful,  went  to 
Wis.  in  1834. 

William  Dick  (i  William)  was  born  at  Charlestown,  R.  I.,  Feb.  16, 
1786,  and  died  at  Brothertown,  Wis.,  Feb.  28,  1869.  He  married, 
Dec.  6,  1806,  Catharine,  daughter  of  George  Crosley,  who  was  born 
Jan.  3,    1787,  and  died  at  Brothertown,  Wis.,   Sept.   7,    1866.     He 


342  APPENDIX 

lived  on  lot  131,  was  town  clerk  for  five  years  and  a  peacemaker 
from  1822  to  1 83 1.  The  success  of  the  emigration  to  Wisconsin 
was  largffly  due  to  him  and  his  brother  Elkanah.  He  removed  with 
his  family  in  1831.  Chn.  :  I.  William  H.  II.  Nathan  Crosley.  III. 
Laura.  IV.  Jemima,  m.  Jeremiah  W.  Johnson.  V.  Sarah,  m.  Skee- 
suck.  VI.  Barbara,  m.  Rowland  Johnson.  VII.  Delila,  m.  Benja- 
min Brushel.     Vlll.  Desdamona,  m.  Alexander  Fowler.     IX.  Dorcas. 

William  H.  Dick  (2  William,  1  William),  married  Juliett  Peters,  was 
a  prominent  man  in  Brothertown,  Wis., and  at  one  time  treasurer  of 
the  county.  In  185 1  and  1871  he  was  a  member  of  the  Wisconsin 
legislature,  and  discharged  his  duties  with  credit  to  his  nation  and 
himself.      Ch.  :    Hannah  A.  Dick. 

Nathan  Crosley  Dick  (  2  VVilliam,  1  William)  born  at  Brothertown, 
N.  Y.,  Feb.  8,  1820,  married  Eunice,  daughter  of  Emanuel  Johnson. 
He  died  at  Brothertown,  Wis.,  in  1884,  and  she  in  1885.  He  was  a 
worthy  citizen  and  influential  in  the  county.  Chn.  :  I.  Orlando  D., 
m.  Almira  J.,  dau.  of  Clark  D.  Sampson,  served  during  the  Civil  War 
in  Co.  A,  2d  Wis.  Cav.,  and  in  Co.  K,  17th  Wis.  Vols.,  and  died 
Aug.  9,  1881,  ae.  42.  II.  Franklin  M.,  was  in  Co.  D,  35th  Wis. 
Vols.,  and  died  at  Vicksburg,  July  22,  1864.  111.  Edgar  Morris. 
IV.  Asa  D.,  was  in  Co.  K,  4th  Wis.  Cav.,  and  died  at  Cairo  in 
March,  1864.     V.   Minerva  N.     VI.   Grace. 

E^^ar  Morris  Dick  ( 3  Nathan  Crosley,  2  William,  1  William)  was 
born  at  Brothertown,  Wis.,  Oct.  28,  1843.  He  received  a  common 
school  education,  but  further  plans  were  interrupted  by  the  war.  He 
enlisted  in  Co.  F,  21st  Wis.  Vols.,  and  was  wounded  at  Perry ville. 
Formerly  he  was  a  farmer,  but  is  now  conducting  a  mercantile  and 
barber  business  at  Brothertown,  where  he  is  respected  for  his  integ- 
rity and  consistent  life.  He  has  identified  himself  with  the  Prohibi- 
tion party,  in  which  he  thoroughly  believes,  and  was  their  nominee 
for  Congress  in  that  district  in  1890.  The  Brothertown  Indians  have 
chosen  him  one  of  their  Headmen.  He  married  Abba  Loretta,  daugh- 
ter of  Osamus  D.  Fowler,  who  was  born  Sept.  29,  1843,  "^^^  dxt^ 
Dec.  12,  1896. 

Elkanah  Dick  (i  William),  born  at  Charlestown  in  1789,  settled  at 
Brothertown,  N.  Y.,  on  lot  31,  held  several  offices  in  the  town,  and 
removed  to  Wisconsin  in  1831.  He  married  (i)  Sarah  Ann,  dau. 
of  Benjamin  Toucee,  by  whom  he  had  seven  children.  (2)  Eliza 
Skeesuck.  His  first  wife  died  in  New  York,  and  he  in  Wisconsin,  in 
1870.  Chn.:  I.  Elias  Jacob,  m.  Serepta  Crosley,  by  whom  he  had 
(i)  Jason,  (2)  Hannah.  II.  Benjamin,  enlisted  in  Co.  G,  36th  Wis. 
Vols.,  and  died  at  Andersonville,  Aug.  25,  1864.  Ill  David. 
IV.  Hubbard,  was  in  Co.  A,  17th  Wis.  Vols.,  and  died  at  Lake  Prov- 
idence, La.,  April  3,  1863.  V.  Susan.  VI.  Elizabeth,  m.  Laton 
Fowler,  and  was  drowned  in  1875.     VII.   Laton. 


APPENDIX 


343 


David  Dick  (2Elkanah,  i  William)  was  born  at  Brothertown, 
N.  Y.,  Oct.  24,  1824,  and  married  Elizabeth,  daughter  of  Joseph 
Fowler,  who  died  Aug.  15,  1863,  ^g^^l  35.  He  served  in  the  war  in 
Co.  H,  5th  Wis.  Vols.  Chn.  :  I.  Theodore,  who  is  one  of  the  Head- 
men,    n.   Duane.     III.   Keyes.     IV.  Jenette,   d.  young. 

Laton  Dick  ( 1  William)  was  born  July  14,  1797,  and  died  at  Broth- 
ertown, Wis.,  July  31,  1880.  He  married  Abigail,  daughter  of 
James  Fowler,  and  lived  on  lot  78,  assigned  to  him  in  1828.  He  was 
a  peacemaker  in  1837,  but  later  removed  to  Wisconsin  with  his 
family.      Chn.  :    I.   Thomas.      II.   Emma.      III.   Frances. 

Isaac  Dick  was  a  brother  of  William  Dick,  and  came  to  Brother- 
town,  N.  Y.,  about  1799,  settling  on  lot  37,  which  was  assigned  to 
him  in  1804.  His  wife  was  Cynthia  Brown,  and  he  then  had  a 
family  of  adult  children.  He  died  about  1812,  and  his  lot  was  sold 
in  1835  for  his  children,  Asa,  Martha,  Isaac,  Hannah  and  Betsey, 
reserving  three  rods  square  for  the  burial  lot.  Some  think  Paul  Dick 
was  also  a  son.  Chn.:  I.  Jacob,  b.  1787,  received  lot  60  in  1812, 
and  died  before  1825.  II.  Asa.  III.  John,  received  lot  92  and 
died  before  1818.  IV.  Martha,  m.  John  Coyhis.  V.  Isaac. 
VI.   Hannah,  m.  James  Kindness.     VII.  Elizabeth,  m.  Ira  Hammar. 

Asa  Dick  (  1  Isaac)  came  to  Brothertown,  N.  Y*.,  with  or  shortly 
after  his  father,  from  Sandy  Creek,  near  Lake  George,  and  lot  36  was 
set  apart  for  him  in  1804.  The  present  village  of  Dickvill^  was 
named  after  him,  and  there  he  died  Sept.  13,  1843,  ^ged  47y,3'",  21^. 
He  was  the  most  prominent  man  in  the  town  in  his  day,  and  attained 
honors  among  Indians  and  whites,  being  known  as  "  Esquire  Dick." 
In  1820  he  was  chosen  peacemaker,  ajid  was  the  last  to  fill  that 
office.  Pomroy  Jones  says,  "  He  was  a  man  of  enterprise,  lived  in  a 
good  style,  had  a  good  two-story  dwelling,  painted  white,  but  in  the 
latter  part  of  his  life  he  extended  his  business  beyond  his  means,  and 
after  his  death  his  estate  was  found  to  be  insolvent.*"  His  house  is 
still  standing  and  is  occupied  by  Mr.  Edward  Peck.  He  bought  the 
lots  of  many  Indians  who  wished  to  emigrate  to  Wisconsin,  and 
would  probal»ly  have  realized  his  expectations  had  he  lived.  His  wife 
was  Nancy,  daughter  of  Daniel  Skeesuck.  Chn.  :  I.  Harriett,  m. 
Alexander  Fowler.  II.  Amanda.  III.  Isaac.  IV.  Aurilla.  V. 
Margaret.      VI.   Orrin.      Several  children  also  died  young. 

Isaac  Dick  (i  Isaac),  born  in  1804.  married  Hannah,  daughter  of 
Jacob  Fowler,  held  several  town  offices,  and  removed  to  Wisconsin 
about  1843.  where  he  died  April  10,  181^4.  Chn  :  I.  Laton,  d.  in 
Wis.      II.    Harriet  E.,  d    young.      HI.   El'en,  m.  Oscar  Johnson. 

Paul  Dick  came  to  Brothertown,  N.  Y.,  from  Charlestown,  and 
received  lot  129  in  1799,  as  Paul  Richards,  and  subsequently  lot  94. 
His  wife  was  Hannah,  daughter  of  David  Fowler,  who  died  at  Broth- 
ertown.    He  removed  to  White  River,  Ind.,  and  died  there.     Chn.  : 


344 


APPENDIX 


I.  John.  II.  Alonzo  D.  III.  Alexander.  IV.  Adeline,  m.  Abra- 
ham Skeesuck.  V.  Sophia,  m.  Peter  Cooper,  an  Oneida  Indian. 
VI.   Eunice,  m.  James  Wauby. 

John  Dick  ( i  Paul)  married  Hannah  Hammar,  who  died  at  Brother- 
town,  N.  Y.  He  owned  part  of  lot  66,  sold  in  1841,  was  a  peace- 
maker in  1832,  and  served  until  the  tribe  had  nearly  all  emigrated, 
when  he  followed  them.  He  was  an  exhorter  and  w^as  called  "Elder 
Dick.^'     Ch. :  John  W.,  d.  1846,  ae.  7. 

Alonzo  David  Dick  (iPaul)  was  born  at  Brothertown,  N.  Y.,  and 
died  at  Chilton,  Wis.  He  emigrated  in  1834,  and  became  an 
honored  citizen.  His  wife,  Lureanett,  daughter  of  Thomas  Crosley, 
died  Sept.  12,  1854,  in  her  46th  year.  Chn.  :  I.  Jane,  m.  Osamus 
D.  Fowler.     II.   Harriet,  d.  1849,  ae.  13.   III.  Cornelia.    IV.  Almira. 

Alexander  Dick  (iPauI)  married  Samantha,  daughter  of  John 
Seketer,  received  lot  81  in  1827,  removed  to  Wisconsin  in  1832,  and 
to  Kansas  in  1852,  where  they  died.  Chn.  :  I.  John  P.  II.  Har- 
riett, m.  Joseph  Scanandoa,  an   Oneida  Indian.     III.   Lucius  C,  was 

in  Co.  K,  4th  Wis.  Cav.     He  married  Sarah ,  who  died  Jan.  13, 

1868,  aged  23.  IV.  Charles  W.,  was  in  Co.  K,  4th  Wis.  Cav.  V. 
Jacob,  was  in  Co.  A,  2d  Kan.  Vols. 

Thomas  Dick  was  born  in  Charlestown,  R.  I.,  and  removed  to 
Brothertown,  N.  Y.,  before  1802,  settHng  on  lot  27,  which  was  as- 
signed to  him  in  1804.  As  an  elder  of  the  Baptist  persuasion  he 
conducted  services  therefor  many  years,  was  a  peacemaker  from  1808 
to  1 8 13,  and  held  other  town  offices.  In  1834  he  removed  to  Wis- 
consin, being  then  about  80  years  of  age,  where  he  and  his  wife 
Debora  died.  Chn.  :  I.  Daniel.  II.  Thomas.  Perhaps  there  were 
others. 

Daniel  Dick  (^  Thomas)  married  Jerusha,  daughter  of  Joseph 
Wauby;  lived  on  lot  74,  assigned  to  him  in  181 7,  being  then  aged 
21  ;  held  several  town  offices,  and  removed  to  Wisconsin  in  1832, 
where  he  and  his  wife  died.  Chn.  :  I.  Zephaniah.  II.  John  W., 
was  in  Co.  G.  36th  Wis.  Vols.,  and  died  after  his  return  home. 

Thomas  Dick  (^  Thomas)  married  Cynthia,  daughter  of  Joseph 
Wauby;  lived  on  lot  63  at  Brothertown,  and  removed  to  Wisconsin 
in  1832,  where  he  was  killed'by  the  Menomenee  Indians.  His  widow 
died  Nov.  24,  1871.  ae.  'j},.     Chn,  :    I.   Aurilla,  m.   William  Crosley. 

II.  Margaritta.     III.  Jacob. 

Fowler, — Montauk  tribe,  Montauk,  L.  I.  James  Fowler,  the  ear- 
liest of  the  name  known   to  us,   was  born   at   Montauk  about    1700, 

married  Elizabeth ,  born  in  1707,   and  in   1761    had   a  family  of 

six  children.  Of  these,  Mary  married  Rev.  Samson  Occom,  and 
Phoebe  married  Ephraim  Pharaoh.  David  and  Jacob  Fowler  were 
sons,  and  another  is  believed  to  have  remained  at  Montauk.     The 


APPENDIX  345 

father  died  about  1774,  and  his  widow  removed  to  Brothertown, 
where  she  was  living  with  her  son  David  in  1795,  at  the  age  of  87. 

David  Fowler  (  ijames),  born  in  1735,  was  one  of  the  founders  of 
Brothertown,  N.  Y.,  where  he  settled  in  1775.  The  details  of  his 
life  are  narrated  in  this  volume  and  need  not  be  repeated  here.  He 
settled  on  what  was  afterwards  lot  105,  which  with  lot  119,  was  as- 
signed to  him  in  1795.  He  was  the  most  conspicuous  figure  in  town 
affairs,  a  trustee  in  1785,  and  senior  peacemaker  from  1796  to  1807. 
He  amassed  some  property,  lived  well  and  was  universally  respected 
until  his  death,  March  31,  1807,  at  the  age  of  72.  His  wife,  Hannah 
Garret,  whom  he  married  in  1766,  died  in  August,  181 1,  aged  64. 
Chn.  :  I.  David.  H.  Hannah,  b.  1768,  m.  Paul  Dick.  HI.  Eliza- 
beth, b.  1770,  m.  (i)  Obadiah  Scippio.  (2)  George  Crosley.  IV. 
Benjamin  Garret,  b.  1774.  V.  Lurheana  (Rhenea),  b.  1776.  VI. 
Mary.  b.  1781,  m.  Samuel  Adams.  VII.  James,  b.  1784.  VIII. 
Jacob,  b.  1788.     IX.   Rhodolphus,  b.  1791. 

David  Fowler  (2 David,  1  James),  born  in  June,  1767,  in  Kirkland's 
cabin,  married  Phebe  Kiness  about  I79i,and  was  given  lot  16  in 
1795,  which,  in  1824,  was  leased  for  ten  years  to  Thomas  Dean,  and 
sold  to  him  in  1826,  after  David  Fowler's  death.  He  served  as  town 
clerk  several  years,  and  was  conspicuous  in  religious  matters.  His 
widow  removed  to  Wisconsin,  where  she  died  March  13,  1863,  aged 
89.  Chn.:  I.  Martha,  b.  1793,  m.  Emanuel  Johnson.  II.  James, 
b.  March  11,  1795.  III.  Theophilus,  d.  at  Brothertown,  N.  Y.  See 
Jones'  Annals  of  Oneida  County,  p.  96.  IV.  Pually,  m.  Timothy 
Jordan,  a  Stockbridge  Indian.     V.   Tryphena,  m.  Dick. 

James  Fowler  (3L3avid,  •■^ David,  1  James),  married  Sarah,  daughter 
of  John  Mason  Simons;  lived  on  lot  103,  assigned  to  him  in  1817; 
inherited  part  of  lot  1 1 1  from  Emanuel  Simons  in  1828,  and  was  killed 
in  a  quarrel  at  Utica,  about  1832.  His  widow  emigrated  with  her 
family  to  Wisconsin.  Chn.:  I.  Henry,  drowned  in  Fox  River.  II. 
Phebe  J.,  b.  1819,  m.  L.  S.  Fowler.  III.  Erastus,  drowned  in  Fox 
River. 

Benjamin  Garret  Fowler  (sDavid,  ijames)  married  (i)  Temperance 
Pharaoh,  who  died  at  Brothertown,  N.  Y.  (2)  Elizabeth  Skeesuck, 
widow  of  Arnold  Skeesuck.  He  lived  on  lot  62,  assigned  to  him  in 
1795,  which  was  sold  in  1836.  He  was  marshal  of  the  town  for  sev- 
eral years,  and  a  peacemaker  from  1808  to  181  r.  In  religious  aifairs 
he  was  a  leader,  and  ministered  as  an  elder  of  the  Freewill  Baptist 
order.  He  removed  to  Wisconsin  with  his  family,  and  died  Dec.  12, 
1848.  aged  74.  His  gravestone  bears  the  tribute:  "  He  spoke  the 
languaire  of  his  Master,  '  little  children,  love  one  another.'"  Chn.  : 
I.  Benj  imin  Garret.  II.  Joseph,  who  married  and  had  a  daughter, 
Elizabeth,  the  wife  of  David  Dick.      III.    Lura,  m.  Nelson  Paul. 

James  Fowler  (2 David,  ^  James)  married  Patience  Dick,  and  lived 


34^  APPENDIX 

on  lot  loo,  assigned  to  him  in  1804.  He  was  a  peacemaker  in  1812, 
and  for  several  years  thereafter.  About  1830  he  died  suddenly  while 
at  work  in  his  field,  and  his  widow  moved  with  her  family  to  Wiscon- 
sin in  1834.  Chn.  :  I.  Abigail,  m.  Laton  Dick.  II.  David,  b.  Feb. 
8,  1813.  III.  William.  IV.  Russell,  burned  to  death.  V.  John 
Collins,  b.  Sept.  19,  1817.  VI.  Simeon  Adams,  b.  May  27,  1819, 
d.  at  Brothertown,  Wis.,  Nov.  20,  1880.  VII.  Smith,  d.  in  Iowa. 
VIII.  Laton,  m.  Elizabeth,  dau.  of  Elkanah  Dick,  who  died  Sept. 
15,  1873,  ae.  51.  IX.  Patience,  lost  in  the  woods  when  12  years 
old.     X.   Roxanna,  died  April  30,  1891,  ae.  66. 

David  Fowler  (3 James,  ^  David,  1  James)  married  Elizabeth,  daugh- 
ter of  James  Simons,  who  was  born  Feb.  2,  18 19,  and  died  Sept.  8, 
1885.  He  was  a  prominent  man  in  town  and  tribal  affairs,  and  died 
in  honor  at  Brothertown,  Wis.,  Feb.  10,  1890.  Chn.:  I.  Harriet 
Adelaide,  b.  May  9,  1844,  m.  Jan.  24,  1864,  to  John  Niles,  and  has 
children,  (i)  Frederick  T.,  (2)  Frances  S.,  (3)  Herbert  T.,  (4)  Wal- 
ter  E.,    (5)   Hermon  A.     II.   Victorine,  d.    March  8,    1861,   ae.    19. 

III.  Patience,  b.  Dec.  25,  1846,  m.  John  W.  Dick,  and  d.  in  1885. 

IV.  Lathrop.  V.  Theodore  M.,  d.  March  21,  1852.  VI.  Elizabeth 
A.,  b.  1850,  d.  1889. 

Lathrop  Fowler  (*  David,  ^ James,  -David,  1  James)  was  born  at 
Brothertown,  Wis.,  Feb.  29,  1848,  and  attended  the  common  schools 
until  at  the  age  of  18  years  he  went  to  the  business  college  at  Fond 
du  Lac.  He  is  a  carpenter  by  trade,  which  he  follows  in  addition  to 
farming.  In  1866  he  became  a  member  of  the  I.  O.  G.  T.,  and  has 
been  honored  by  important  offices  in  district  and  grand  lodges.  He 
is  an  ardent  and  consistent  prohibitionist,  a  patriotic  citizen,  and  a 
friend  of  all  means  for  the  civilization  of  the  Indians.  He  is  one  of 
the  Headmen  of  the  Brothertown  tribe. 

William  Fowler  (^James,  '^  David,  ijames)  v.'as  born  about  1815, 
and  married  Mary  Brushel.  He  lived  at  13rothertown,  Wis.,  until 
he  enlisted  in  Co.  E,  21st  Wis.  Vols.  He  was  killed  at  Perry ville, 
Oct.  8,  1862.  Chn.:  1.  James  D.,  b.  1840,  was  a  soldier  in  the 
•  38th  Wis.  Vols.  II.  Emeline,  m.  William  Welch,  and  d  Jan.  i, 
1865,  ^.22.  III.  Ella,  d.  1865.  IV.  Melvina,  m.Rufus  Skeesuck, 
and  d.  in  1892.     V.    Lisetta,  m.  Miles  M.  Johnson,  and  d.  in  1876. 

John  Collins  Fowler  (sjames,  2 David,  1  James)  was  born  at  Broth- 
ertown, N.  Y.,  Sept.  19.  1817,  and  removed  to  Wisconsin  in  1834, 
where  he  has  since  lived  on  his  farm  to  an  honored  old  age.  He 
married  Phebe,  daughter  of  James  Niles.  who  died  several  years  since. 

Jacob  Fowler  (-David,  1  James)  married  Amy,  daughter  of  Samp- 
son Potter;  lived  on  lot  141 , 'assigned  to  him  in  181 5.  and  was  for 
years  a  tithingman  and  marshal  in  the  town.  He  went  to  Wiscon- 
sin, but  returned  later,  and  died  in  his  old  home.  His  wife  died  at 
Brothertown,   Wis.,    Feb.    10,    1862,    ae.    69.     Chn.:   I.   Alexander, 


APPENDIX  347 

II.  Hezekiah.     III.   Lucius  Syrenius.     IV.   Hannah,  m.  Isaac  Dick. 
V.   Lorenzo  David.      VL   Alzina. 

Alexander  Fowler  (sjacob,  2  David,  1  James)  married  (i)  Harriet, 
daughter  of  Asa  Dick,  who'  died  at  Brothertown,  N.  Y.,  Aug.  22, 
1845,  36.  23,  (2)  Desdemona,  daughter  of  William  Dick.  He  was 
the  last  town  clerk,  and  finally  removed  to  Wisconsin.  Chn.  :  I. 
George  L.,  d.  in  1845,  ae.  4.     II.   Amy  L.,  d.  Dec.  7,  1870,  ae.   20. 

Hezekiah  Fowler  (s Jacob,  sDavid,  1  James)  married  Fanny  F. 
Skeesuck,  and  removed  to  Wisconsin,  where  she  died  Aug.  17,  1857, 
ae.  45".  He  held  part  of  lot  11,  in  Brothertown,  which  was  sold  in 
1834.  Chn.  :  I.  Parmelia,  m.  John  Crosley.  II.  Irene.  III.  Ada- 
line,  d.  Feb.  18,  1845.  IV.  Adah,  d.  Feb.  11,  1845.  V.  Israel, 
was  in  Co.  A,  3d  Wis.  Vols.,  and  died  at  Chancellorsville,  May  3, 
1863. 

Lucius  Syrenius  Fowler  (^  Jacob,  2  David,  1  James)  was  born  at 
Brothertown,  N.  Y.,  May  10,  1819,  and  died  at  Brothertown,  Wis., 
Feb.  23,  1886.  He  married  Fhebe  J.  Fowler,  who  died  Feb.  4,  1885. 
They  went  to  Wisconsin  in  1834.  Chn.  :  I.  Almanza  E.,  d.  Dec. 
24,  1868,  ae.  26.  II.  Frances  A.,  d.  Sept.  4,  1859.  III.  Luren- 
ette,  d.  Jan.  15,  1862. 

Lorenzo  David  Fowler  (3  Jacob,  2  David,  ^  James)  married  Mary  V., 
daughter  of  Emanuel  Johnson.  Chn.  :  I.  Rhodolphus,  d.  in  1850, 
ae.  15.  II.  Theophilus,  d.  in  1852,  ae.  17.  III.  Cordelia,  m.  Sol- 
omon Niles. 

Rhodolphus  Fowler  (2  David,  1  James)  married  Elizabeth,  daughter 
of  William  Dick;  lived  on  lot  113  in  1817;  was  town  clerk  and 
peacemaker,  and  removed  to  Wisconsin  in  1836,  where  he  was 
drowned  in  Fox  River.  Chn.  :  I.  Lura,  m.  Simeon  Hart.  II. 
Osamus  David,  b.  18 16.  III.  Lewis.  IV.  Almira,  m.  Rowland 
Johnson.  V.  Lyman  Palmer.  VI.  Orrin  Gridley.  VII.  Wealthy, 
m.  Orrin  G.  Johnson. 

Osamus  David  Fowler  (3  Rhodolphus,  2  David,  1  James)  married  (i) 
Rosetta,  dau.  of  Eliphalet  Matthews,  who  died  July  29,  1854,  ae.  35, 
(2)  Jane,  dau.  of  Alonzo  D.  Dick,  who  died  April  5,  186 1,  ae.  28. 
He  was  a  prominent  man  in  Brothertown, Wis.*  and  died  Aug.  4,  1874, 
ae.  58.     Chn.:   I.   Abba  Loretta.      II.   Ellen   A.,   d.  June  30,  1845. 

III.  Lewis  F.,  d.  March  ir,  1849.     IV.  James  L.,  d.  Nov.  8,  1855. 
V.  James  Lawrence,  by  the  second  wife. 

Lyman  Palmer  Fowler  (^  Rhodolphus,  2  David,  1  James)  married 
Aurilla,  daughter  of  Asa  Dick.  He  served  as  a  soldier  in  the  Civil 
War,  and  died  at  Brothertown,  Wis.  Chn.  :  I.  Oscar.  II.  Emelia 
A.,  d.  March  18,  1851. 

Orrin  Gridley  Fowler  (^  Rhodolphus,  2  David,  1  James)  married 
Ruth  Skeesuck,  who  died  at  Brothertown,  Wis.,  Aug.  15,  1870,  aged 
40.     He  was   in  Co.  K,  4th   W^is.  Cav.,    and  died  at   Ship   Island, 


348  '  APPENDIX 

Miss.,  May   13,  1862,  ae.   49.     Chn.  :   I.  Emma  E.,  d.  1867,   ae.  17. 
II.   Wealthy  J.,  d.  1864,  ae.  13. 

Jacob  Fowler  (i James)  was  born  in  1750,  and  married  Esther 
Poquiantup,  who  survived  his  death  at  "lirothertown,  N.  Y.,  but  re- 
moved or  died  before  1795.  He  was  the  first  town  clerk,  chosen  in 
1785,  but  his  records,  if  he  Icept  any,  are  lost.  They  had  an  only 
child,  who  died  in  1772,  at  Mushantuxet,  and  perhaps  others  later. 
The  further  details  of  his  life  are  given  elsewhere. 

Hammar,  Hammer, — Narragansett  tribe,  Charlestown,  R.  I.  James 
Hammer  and  Margery,  his  wife,  were  living  at  Charlestown,  in  1761, 
having  two  sons  under  sixteen  years  of  age.  One  of  these,  it  is 
thought,  was  John  Hammar,  the  founder  of  the  Brothertown  family. 
The  mother  was  called  "Widow  Margery  Hammar,"  in  1763. 

John  Hammar,  with  his  family,  came  to  Brothertown,  N.  Y., 
before  1804,  when  lot  109  was  assigned  to  him.  He  was  tlien 
about  50  years  old.  His  wife's  name  is  unknown.  A  lot  was  after- 
wards assigned  for  her  support  "  while  a  widow.'"  Chn.  :  I.  John. 
II.  Joseph,  who  had  lot  116  in  1814.  There  was  also  a  Thomas 
Hammar,  who  married  and  went  to  Wisconsin,  having  children 
Duane,  Rufus,  Lucinda,  Louisa,  Lowana,  Eveline  and  Carrie;  but 
his  relationship  is  unknown. 

John  Hammar  (ijohn)  was  born  about  1780,  married  Elizabeth 
Crosley,  and  died  about  1823.  His  widow  was  living  in  1843. 
Chn.  :  I.  John  Crosley.  II.  Ira.  III.  Samuel.  IV.  Louisa,  m. 
David  Wiggins.     V.   Rue,  m.  Hodge. 

John  Crosley  Hammar  (^John,  ijohn)  married  Esther,  daughter  of 
William  Johnson.  Chn.  :  I.  Alexander,  was  in  Co,  A,  2d  Wis.  Cav. 
II.  Irene.  III.  Lucretia.  IV.  John  Emery,  b.  Sept.  8,  1851.  He 
is  one  of  the  Headmen  of  the  Brothertown  Indians.     V.   Francis  M. 

Ira  Hammar  (^John,  ijohn)  mnrried  (i)  Elizabeth  Dick;  (2) 
Elizabeth  Johnson.  He  moved  to  Wisconsin  in  1836.  and  died  in 
1872.  Chn.:  I.  Olive.  II.  Jams,  was  in  the  35th  Wis.  Vols.,  and 
died  after  his  return.  IN.  Wesley.  IV.  Amelia.  V.  Frnnklin. 
VI.  George,  was  in  Co.  K,  4th  Wis.  Cav.  VII.  John,  was  in  the 
38th  Wis.  Vols.,  and  died  after  his  return. 

Samuel  Hammar  (2jolin,  ijohn)  married  Polly  Johnson,  and  lived 
on  lot  132  at  Brothertown.  Chn.  :  I.  Louisa.  II.  Lorry.  III. 
Henry,  was  in  Co  A,  ist  Wis.  Vols.,  and  died  at  Chaplin  Hills,  Oct. 
15,  1862. 

Harry. — Nnrragansett  tribe,  Charlestown.  R.  I.  This  was  a 
numerous  family  in  New  England.  Christopher,  or  "Kit"  Harry 
had  several  sons  in  1761 ,  one  of  whom  was  Christopher,  born  in 
1747.     This  son  was  a  soldier  in  the  Revolution,  moved  to  Brother- 


APPENDIX  349 

town  before  1795,  and  received  lot  27.  He  soon  returned  to  Charles- 
town,  became  a  councilor  of  the  tril;e,  and  died  there.  He  was  an 
early  friend  of  Christian  education  among  his  people.  His  wife's 
name  was  Clowe,  and  they  had  a  son  Augustus,  who  also  became  a 
councilor.  Gideon  Harry,  pt-rhaps  the  }outh,  who,  with  his  parents 
Gideon  and  Judah  Hany  joined  the  Stonington  church,  April  18, 
1742,  came  to  Brothertown,  and  in  1796  was  given  lot  I.  He  mar- 
ried tiiere  Prudence  Poquianlup  Cujcp,  and  had  a  son  Gideon,  who 
removed  to  White  River. 

Hart. — Probably  of  the  Pequot  tribe,  Stonington,  Conn.  One  of 
that  name  was  a  late  comer  at  Brothertown,  and  married  Nancy 
Brushel.  They  had  a  son,  Simeon  Hart,  born  in  18  lO",  who  married 
Lura,  daughter  of  Rhodolphus  Fowler.  He  was  town  clerk  from 
1832  to  1835,  removed  to  Wisconsin  in  1836,  and  died  July  1,  1847. 
Chn.  :  I.  Urvill  Amon,  m.  Sarah  P.  Comnuick,  was  in  Co  G,  36lh 
Wis.  Vols.,  and  died  after  his  return.  H.  Rolett  B.,  d.  185  i,  ae.  13. 
HI.   Sarah  E.,  d.  1838,  ae.  2. 

HuTTON, — Narragansett  tribe,  Charlestown,  R.  I.  Samuel  Hutton, 
living  at  Charlestown  in  1745,  was  doubtless  the  father  of  Amos 
Hutton,  an  early  settler  at  Brothertown,  living  on  lot  5  in  1795. 
President  Dwigiit  visited  him  in  1799,  and  says  he  had  "a  good 
house,  well  finished,  and  a  large  barn,  well  built."  He  was  an 
"  example  of  industry,  economy  and  punctuality."  In  the  list  of 
1795  he  is  said  to  have  been  38  years  of  age,  and  his  wife,  Elizabeth, 
53.     They  died  at  Brothertown,  he  about  18 10,  leaving  no  children. 

Isaacs, — Thomas  Isaacs,  of  a  tribe  unknown,  aged  20,  and  The«- 
tura,  his  wife,  aged  18,  were  given  lot  24  at  Brothertown,  in  1795. 
He  was  interested  in  the  White  River  emigration,  and  removed 
thither.  The  sawmill  stood  on  his  lot,  which  was  deeded  to  Thomas 
Dean  in  1828. 

Johnson, — Mohegan  tribe,  Mohegan,  Conn.  This  family  was  of 
the  oldest  Mohegan  stock.  In  1723  Manahawon  Johnson  was  living 
at  Mohegan.  and  probably  he- was  the  Manghaughwont  who  signed 
with  the  tribe  in  1714.  The  name  "Johnson  "was  taken  from  a 
white  family.  This  man  had  three  sons,  and  perhaps  a  fourth. 
Zachariah,  or  Zachary,  became  a  famous  councilor  of  the  tribe,  and 
died  in  September,  1787,  at  an  advanced  age.  Joseph's  story  is  told 
elsewhere.  He  had  children,  Joseph  and  Amy.  Ephraim  became  a 
councilor  of  the  tribe  in  1742. 

Joseph  Johnson  (^ Joseph)  born  in  April,  1752,  married  Dec.  2, 
1773,  Tabitha,  a  daughter  of  Rev.  Samson  Occom.  The  details  of 
his  life  are  related  in  this  volume.      They  had  two  sons,   William, 


350  .  APPENDIX 

born  Sept.  2,  1774,  and  Joseph,  born  in  1776.  After  their  father's 
death,  the  sons  hved  at  Alohegan,  and  shared  in  the  distribution  of 
lands  in   1790.     Joseph  went  to  Brothertown  :   received  lots   133  and 

134  in    1797;    and   married   Sarah  in    1799.     They  returned, 

about  1820,  to  Mohegan,  and  died  there. 

John  Johnson  is  said  by  his  descendants  to  have  come  from 
Charlestovvn,  but  the  name  is  not  found  in  Narragansett  lists.  A 
"  widow  Johnson"  was  living  at  Mushantuxet  in  1766,  and  her  hus- 
band m  ly  have  come  from  Mohegan,  and  lier  children  have  moved  to 
Charlestown.  John  Johnson  married,  before  his  emigration  to 
Brotiiertown,  a  white  woman,  whence  came  the  white  blood,  dis- 
tinctly visible  in  this  family.  She  died  about  1780,  and  he  married  an 
Indian  named  Eunice,  who  returned  to  New  England  about  1843,  "^"^^ 
died  there.  He  came  to  Brothertown  about  1800,  receiving  lots  55 
and  56  in  1804.  These  were  sold  in  1828  tor  the  benefit  of  Emanuel, 
William  and  John  Johnson,  "sons  of  John  Johnson,  deceased."  He 
was  an  intelligent.  Christian  Indian,  prominent  in  town  affairs,  and  a 
peacemiker  from  18 17  to  1821.  He  worked  at  the  shoemaker's  trade. 
Beside  the  three  sons  he  had  daughters,  Esther  and  Elizabeth. 

John  Johnson  (ijohn)  born  in  1774,  married  (i)  Abigail  Poqui- 
antup  (?)  ;  (2)  Mercy  Thomas.  His  first  wife  was  killed  by  falling 
from  a  cart.  He  settled  on  lot  138,  assigned  to  him  in  1804,  was  a 
peacemaker  from  1808  to  1821,  and  was  titled  "Esquire  Johnson," 
in  honor  of  his  service.  In  1836  he  removed  to  Wisconsin,  where  he 
died  May  10,  i860,  aged  86.  Chn.  :  I.  Abigail,  by  ist  wife,  m. 
James  Niles.  II.  John  W.  III.  Henry,  m.  Avis  Sampson.  He 
was  in  Co.  E,  21st  Wis.  Vols.,  and  died  at  Perryville,  Nov.  6,  1862. 
IV.  Colen  Bardit,  m.  Electa  Scippio.  V.  Elizabeth,  m.  Ira  Ham- 
mar.     VI.  Anna  Thomas. 

John  VV.  Johnson  (-John,  ^John)  was  born  at  Brothertown,  N.  Y., 
Dec.  28,  1818,  and  died  at  Brothertown.  Wis.,  Feb.  27,  1881.  He 
married  twice,  his  second  wife  being  Rebecca  Abner,  the  widow  of 
Simeon  Adams.  She  is  living  at  an  advanced  age,  and  is  one  of  the 
most  intelligent  of  women,  with  a  remarkable  memory  and  knowledge 
of  tribal  history.  Chn.:  ist  wife:  I.  Gazelle  M.,  d.  April  20,  1846. 
II.  Jeremiah  E.,  d.  Nov.  28,  1851,  £e.  18.  III.  Emanuel  P.,  d. 
Oct.  z^ ,  1857,  ae.  19.  By  2d  wife  :  IV.  Samuel.  V.  Wayland  L.,  d. 
April  4,  1870,  ae.  17.  VI.  Rozetta  C,  b.  Sept.  i,  1857,  m.  Stevens, 
and  d.  March  10,  1878. 

William  Johnson  (ijohn)  married  Charlotte  Skeesuck.  and  they 
removed  to  Wisconsin  in  1832,  where  they  died.  Chn.  :  I.  Esther, 
b.  Nov.  10,  1813,  m.  John  Crosley  Hammar.  II.  Nancy,  m.  Jona- 
than Schooner.  III.  William,  m.  (i)  Charlotte  Wiggins  (2)  Mandy 
Dick.  IV.  Orrin  G.  V.  Elisha.  VI.  Abigail,  m.  George  Skeesuck. 
VII.  Huldah. 


APPENDIX  351 

Orrin  G.  Johnson  (-^  William,  ijohn)  married  (i)  Wealthy  J. 
Fowler,  who  died  Aug.  6,  1849,  ae.  22;  (2)  Mary,  daughter  of 
Peter  Crowell.  He  was  a  lay  preacher,  removed  to  Minnesota,  and 
died  there  in  1880,  aged  65.  Amasa,  Horenzo,  Orsil  and  Male,  his 
children,  all  died  young. 

Emanuel  Johnson  (ijohn)  married  Martha,  daughter  of  David 
Fowler,  lived  on  lot  61,  and  removed  to  Wisconsin  in  1834,  where  he 
soon  died.  Chn.  :  I.  Eunice,  m.  Nathan  C.  Dick.  II.  Jeremiah  W., 
m.  Jemima  Dick,  went  to  Wisconsin  in  1834,  and  died  there.  •  They 
had  sons — Ovando  F.  was  in  Co,  C,  35th  Wis.  Vols.,  and  died  Aug. 
4,  1864;  William  H.  was  in  Co.  A,  2d  Wis.  Cav  III.  Rowland. 
IV.  David.  V.  Mary  V.,  m.  L.  D.  Fowler.  VI.  Phebe.  VII. 
Martha. 

Rowland  Johnson  (^Emanuel,  1  John)  was  born  at  Brothertown, 
N.  Y.,  Feb.  22,  18 16.  He  married  (i)  Nov.  18,  1840,  Almira, 
daughter  of  Rhodolphus  Fowler,  who  died  July  31,  1850,  ae.  31  ;  (2) 
Barbara,  daughter  of  WilHam  Dick.  He  removed  to  Wisconsin,  was 
an  honored  and  influential  citizen,  and  died  in  1897.  Chn.:  By  ist 
wife:  I.  Oscar.  II.  Henry,  d.  young.  III.  Hiram,  d.  1853.  By 
2d  wife:  IV.  Loren  M.,  was  in  Co.  A,  2d  Wis.  Cav.,  and  died  after 
his  return.  V  Melville,  who  served  in  Co.  K,  4th  Wis.  Cav.,  and 
resides  at  Brothertown,  Wis. 

Oscar  Johnson  (^  Rowland,  ^Emanuel,  ^John)  was  born  at  Brother- 
town,  Wis.,  March  28,  1842,  was  educated  in  the  common  school, 
and  worked  on  the  farm  until  1861,  when  he  enlisted  in  Co.  B,  5th 
Wis.  Vols.  He  served  his  country  throughout  the  war,  and  was 
wounded  at  Sailor's  Creek,  April  6,  1865.  He  married,  Dec.  22, 
1867,  Ellen  Jane,  daughter  of  Isaac  Dick,  and  has  a  son,  Harley  A. 
Johnson.  He  is  one  of  the  Headmen  of  the  Brothertown  Indians, 
and  an  honored  citizen. 

David  Johnson  (^  Emanuel,  ^  John)  removed  to  Wisconsin  in  1831, 
being  one  of  the  first  settlers.  He  married  Abigail,  daughter  of  Wil- 
liam Dick,  who  died  June  8,  1859,  ^g^d  57.  He  died  in  1896. 
Chn.  :   I.   Gracy,  d.   young.     II.   Lewis,  was  in  Co.  I,  5th  Wis.  Vols. 

Kindness,  Kiness. — Pequot  tribe,  Stonington,  Conn.  The  only 
one  of  this  name  in  tribal  lists  is  John  Kindness,  who  signed  a  docu- 
ment in  1788.  Thomas  Kindness,  who  may  have  been  a  son, 
removed  to  Brothertown  about  181 5,  settled  on  lot  78,  and  was 
killed  shortly  afterwards  in  a  brawl  by  Nathan  Paul.  His  wife's 
name  was  Phebe.  Chn.:  I.  James.  II.  Thomas,  m.  Christiana  Paul. 
III.   Prudence.     IV.    Phebe,  m.  David  Fowler! 

James  Kindness  (i  Thomas)  married  Hannah  Dick,  who  died  Nov. 
30,  1861,  ae.  54.  He  was  town  clerk  from  1825  to  1830,  and  from 
i835toi84i.'    Chn.:   I.   Laton.     II.   Ira.     III.   Isaac.     There  were 


352 


APPENDIX 


others  of  this  name  at  Brothertown,  doubtless  .descendants  of 
Thomas.  George  Kindness  was  in  the  Civil  War.  Lewis  Kindness 
served  in  Co.  I,  5th  Wis.  Vols.,  and  James  H.  Kindness  in  a  Kansas 
regiment. 

Matthews,  Marthers, — A  John  Mattliews  of  the  Narragansett 
tribe  is  mentioned  in  our  hisiory.  He  is  thought  to  have  removed  to 
Brothertown  as  an  early  settler,  and  died  there.  Eliphalet  Marthers 
was  an  orphan,  and  possibly  a  son  of  John,  as  he  was  adopted  by 
Abraham  Snnons,  the  latter's  cousin,  or  by  his  widow,  Sarah  Adams 
Simons.  In  1795  he  was  13  years  old,  and  then  bore  the  name 
Adams  which  he  changed  to  Marthers  about  1804.  In  1828,  piirt 
of  lot  126,  assigned  to  him  in  1804,  was  sold,  for  the  benefit  of 
"  Eliphalet  Adams  otherwise  Eliphalet  Marthers  an  Indian."  He 
became  prominent  in  tribe  and  town,  was  a  peacemaker  for  twenty 
years,  and  was  called  "Esquire  Matthews."  He  married  Elizabeth 
Crosley,  who  died  at  Brothertown,  N.  Y.  ;  removed  to  Wisconsin 
about  1839,  and  ^'^^  Sept.  5,  1851.  Chn.  :  I.  Rozina,  m.  C.  D. 
Sampson.  II.  Lovina,  m.  E.  C.  Adams.  III.  Kozetta,  m.  O.  D. 
Fowler.  IV.  Sarah.  V.  John.  VI.  Ransom.  VII.  Seth.  VIII. 
Joel. 

John  Matthews  (i  Eliphalet)  married  Adelia,  daughter  of  George 
Sampson,  removed  to  Wisconsin  in  1836,  and  died  Feb.  24,  1883, 
ag-d  70.     Chn.:   I.   Eliza.     II.   Amanda.     HI.   Esther. 

Ransom  Matthews  (^  Eliphalet)  married  Maria,  daughter  of  George 
Sampson,  and  died  at  Brothertown,  Wis.,  June  13,  1866,  in  his  49th 
year.  Chn.:  I.  Arsula,  b.  Sept.  14,  1844.  II.  Matthew,  d.  1873, 
ae.  13. 

MossucK,  MosucK,  Maussuck,  Maussauk, — Tunxis  tribe,  Farm- 
ington,  Conn.  Solomon  Maussauk,  born  in  1723,  was  an  early  convert 
at  Farmington,  and  he  and  his  wife  Eunice  were  church  members. 
He  owned  lands  there,  and  bought  lot  51  in  the  "south-east  divis- 
sion"  in  1765.  More  of  his  story  is  given  elsewhere  in  this  volume. 
His  son,  Daniel  Mossuck',  was  a  pupil  at  Lebanon,  was  interested  in 
the  emigration,  became  a  Revolutionary  soldier  in  Capt.  William 
Judd's  company  of  the  Third  regiment  "  Connecticut  Line,"  and  died 
at  Farmington.  Luke  Mosuck  of  Brothertown,  N.  Y.,  is  said  to  have 
been  his  son.  He  was  born  at  Farmington  in  1769.  removed  to  the 
Indian  town  before  1795,  and  received  lot  61.  As  this  was  forfeited 
in  1797,  he  probably  returned  to  New  England,  but  his  son  Daniel 
held  lot  65  in  1824,  and  another  son,  Newton,  received  part  of  lot 
116  in  1827.  The  latter  moved  to  Wisconsin  in  1834,  and  was 
frozen  to  death  on  Winnebago  Lake. 


APPENDIX  353 

NiLES,  Nyles, — Narragansett  tribe,  Charlestown,  R.  I.  In  1747, 
and  for  years  afterwards.  James  Niles,  aged  34,  a  kinsman  of  Samuel 
Niies,  the  Indian  preacher,  was  a  councilor  of  this  tribe.  In  1763,  he 
and  his  wife  Jerusha  had  two  daughters  and  a  son,  James  Niles,  the 
latter  afterwards  a  pupil  at  Lebanon.  This  son  was  interested  in  the 
emigration;  became  a  Revolutionary  soldier  in  the  Second  Con- 
necticut regiment  in  1780,  and  a  Rhode  Island  regiment  in  1781  ; 
removed  to  Brothertown  about  1796,  and  received  lots  41  and  42. 
These  were  divided  among  his  heirs  in  1829.  He  married  Barbara 
Poquiantup,  who  died  before  him.  Chn.  :  I.  James.  II.  Lucy,  m. 
John  Seketer.  III.  Mary,  m.  Nathan  Pendleton,  a  mulatto,  and 
died,  leaving  two  sons,  Joshua  and  Peter,  who  by  the  tribal  laws  were 
denied  rights  in  the  Brothertown  lands.  IV.  Rhoda,  m.  (i)  Charles; 
(2)   Daniel  Wauby.     V.  Phebe,  m.  Joseph  Wauby. 

James  Niles  (^  James,  1  James)  married  Abigail  Johnson,  received 
lot  93  in  1804,  and  removed  to  Wisconsin  in  1834,  where  he  died 
Sept.  7,  1863,  in  his  83d  year.  Chn.  :  I.  Phebe,  m.  John  Collins 
Fowler.  II.  Andrew,  m.  Fanny  A.,  dau.  of  Lorenzo  Fowler,  and 
died  Sept.  18,  1864,  ae.  23.  III.  John,  m.  Harriet  A.,  dau.  of 
David  Fowler.  IV.  Samuel,  d.  1853,  ae.  17.  V.  Solomon,  m. 
Cordelia,  dau.  of  Lorenzo  Fowler,  and  was  in  the  38th  Wis.  Vols, 
during  the  Civil  War. 

OccuM, — Mohegan  tribe,  Mohegan,  Conn.  We  sum  up  the  early 
history  of  this  family  given  elsewhere  in  these  pages  :  "  Tomockham 
alias  Ashneon"  had  three  sons — "Joshua  Ockham,"  "  Tomocham 
Jun"""  and  "John  Tomocham."  The  latter  signed  in  1738  as  "son 
of  the  aforesaid  Tomockham.''^  He  probably  married  Elizabeth,  a 
descendant  of  Oweneco,  known  as  "  Betty  Aucum  widow''  in  a  Nor- 
wich deed  of  1745.  She  was  a  member  of  the  Montville  church. 
John  Occom,  head  of  a  family  about  1765,  was  doubtless  her  son. 
"Tomocham  Jun'"'"  probably  was  the  "Thomas  Occom''  who  signed 
as  such  in  1749,  and  was  a  soldier  in  Capt.  Ebenezer  Leache's  com- 
pany in  1755.  If  so,  he  was  living  in  1764,  and  unmarried.  "Joshua 
Ockham,"  was  a  councilor  of  Ben  Uncas  in  1742,  and  died  before 
May  17,  1743,  leaving  a  widow  Sarah,  and  the  following  children: 
I.  Joshua,  b.  about  1716.  II.  Samson,  b.  1723.  III.  Jonathan,  b. 
1725.  IV.  Lucy,  b.  about  1731.  Lucy  married  John  Tantaquid- 
geon,  and  died  in  1830  at  Mohegan.  She  had  the  following  children  : 
I.  Lucy,  m.  Peter  Teecomwas,  and  had  Eliphalet,  Cynthia,  who  mar- 
ried a  Hoscott,  and  Sarah,  who  married  Jacob  H.  Fowler.  II.  John, 
was  a  Revolutionary  soldier,  removed  to  Brothertown,  received  lot 
139  in  i8r6,  and  was  living  there  in  1843.  III.  Jerusha.  IV.  David. 
V.  Bartholomew.     VI.  Parthenia.      Joshua  Occom   married   Eunice 

-,  a  Pequot  Indian.     He  was  a  soldier  in  Capt.  Joshua  Abell's 

24 


354  APPENDIX 

company  in  1755.  His  name  is  in  a  list  of  1765,  but  she  is  called 
"  Widow  Eunice '■  in  1769.  She  died  about  1809.  They  had  the 
following  children:  I.  Ann.  II.  Joshua,  died  before  1782.  III. 
David,  who  was  a  soldier  in  Colonel  Parsons'  regiment  in  1776,  and 
died  in  the  service.  IV.  Eunice,  d.  April,  1787.  Jonathan  Occom 
was  a  soldier  in  Capt.  Ebenezer  Leache's  company  in  1755,  and  in 
Capt,  Zachaeus  Wheeler's  company  in  1758.  He  survived  the  French 
wars,  and  in  1775  enlisted  in  Capt.  John  Durkee's  company  of  Gen- 
eral Putnam's  regiment,  serving  throughout  the  war.  He  returned  to 
Mohegan,  received  20  acres  of  land  in  the  distribution  of  1790,  and 
was  living  there  in  1804.  In  lists  he  is  called  "a  single  man''  and 
a  "  brother  of  Samson." 

Samsom  Occom  needs  no  further  notice  here.  His  children  were 
as  follows:  I.  Mary,  b.  1752.  She  was  living  in  1769,  but  nothing 
is  known  of  her  afterwards.  II.  Aaron,  b.  1753,  married  Ann, 
a  daughter  of  Samuel  Robin  of  the  Wangunk  tribe,  and  died  in 
the  winter  of  177 1,  at  Mohegan,  leaving  a  son  Aaron.  III.  Tabitha, 
b.  1754,  m.  Joseph  Johnson.  IV.  Olive,  b.  1755,  "''•  Solomon 
Adams.  V.  Christiana,  b.  1757,  m.  Anthony  Paul.  VI.  Talitha, 
b.  1761 .  We  think  she  married  a  Cooper.  She  died  at  or  near  Farm- 
ington  in  May,  1785,  leaving  at  least  one  child.  VII.  Benoni,  b. 
1763,  married  and  had  one  child,  but  in  1808  he  was  living  at  Mohe- 
gan and  had  no  family.  VIII.  Theodosia  (Dorothy),  b.  1769,  and 
was  living  in  1789  at  Mohegan.  IX.  Lemuel  Fowler,  b.  1771,  and 
was  drowned  at  Mohegan  in  1790.  X.  Andrew  Gifford,  b.  1774, 
went  to  Brothertown,  and  had  a  lot  there  which  he  leased  April  12, 
1792.  He  married,  and  his  death  occurred  before  1796,  when 
"  Widow  Patience  Occum  "  was  given  lot  41 .  They  had  a  son,  Sam- 
som Occom,  who  lived  at  Brothertown,  received  part  of  lot  19  in 
1827,  and  removed,  it  is  said,  with  his  wife  Elizabeth  to  White  River. 
Some  Indians  say  he  joined  the  Stockbridge  tribe,  writing  his  name 
Yoccom,  and  has  descendants  among  them.  XL  Sally,  b.  1784. 
Occom  called  her  his  "child,"  but  she  may  have  been  a  grandchild. 
She  went  to  Brothertown,  and  died  there. 

OccuiSH,  CuiSH,  KuiSH,  Ke\vish, — Niantic  tribe,  Niantic,  Conn. 
Philip  Occuish,  born  in  171 6,  was  converted  in  1740,  and  became  a 
prominent  Christian  Indian,  He  had  some  education  and  was  a  Bap- 
tist minister,  conducting  services  sometimes  in  his  own  house.  In 
1 76 1  he  had  four  boys  and  three  girls,  and  his  widowed  mother,  aged 
70,  lived  with  him.  He  was  living  at  Niantic  in  1784,  and  Occom 
wrote  of  him  as  "Old  Brother  Philip  Cuish."  His  wife  Sarah  died 
April  16,  1787,  in  her  67th  year.  Their  sons,  or  grandsons,  Joshua 
and  Abraham  Occuish,  removed  to  Brothertown,  N.  Y.,  and  Philip 
Occuish  had  lots  100  and  103  assigned  to  him  in  1799.     As  lot  103 


APPENDIX 


355 


was  afterwards  given  to  Joshua  Occuish,  perhaps  he  was  a  son.  He 
and  his  wife  Elizabeth  were  at  Brothertown  in  1804.  They  removed 
about  18 17.  Their  children  were:  I.  John,  who  received  part  of  lot 
145  in  1831,  and  was  living  there  in  1843,  having  a  son  John  and 
probably  a  daughter  MeHssa.  II.  Dimiss,  who  married  and  died  be- 
fore 1 8 14,  leaving  a  daughter  Lurea,  the  wife  of  Alonzo  D.  Dick. 
III.  Ehjah,  who  had  part  of  lot  116  in  1827.  IV.  Anna,  who  mar- 
ried and  had  a  son  John.  Abraham  Occuish  removed  to  Brothertown 
before  1804,  received  lot  131,  and  died  before  181 3. 

Palmer, — The  tribe  of  this  family  is  unknown.  Joseph  Palmer  was 
at  Brothertown,  N.  Y.,  in  1818,  having  lot  92.  He  married  Martha 
Waukeet,  a  Niantic  Indian,  removed  to  Wisconsin  in  1834,  and  was 
murdered  by  a  Stockbridge  Indian  July  3,  1836.  The  murderer  was 
sentenced  to  be  hanged,  but  escaped  from  the  jail.  In  1854  the  widow 
lived  at  Manchester,  Wis.,  and  testified  that  she  had  two  sisters,  Mary 
Paul  and  Lucy  Waukeet,  living  at  Niantic.  She  married  later  Solomon 
Paul,  and  died  Jan.  26,  1874,  ae.  74.  Chn.  :  I.  Prudence.  II. 
Lucy,  m.  Charles  Wiggins.  III.  George.  IV.  Benjamin,  was  in 
Co.  D,  14th  Kan.  Vols.,  and  died  after  his  return  home. 

Patchauker,  Peshauker,  Pechorker,  Pauheter, — This  family 
is  said  to  have  come  from  Martha's  Vineyard.  Thomas  Patchauker  was 
an  original  settler  at  Brothertown,  N.  Y.,  and  was  chosen  fence-viewer 
in  1785.  He  was  then  a  widower,  and  died  in  1795,  his  lot  number 
14  being  then  assigned  to  his  daughter  Jane.  Chn.  :  I.  Jane,  b. 
1760,  m.  Isaac  Wauby.  II.  Thomas,  enlisted  in  the  navy,  married 
and  his  wife  Abigail  lived  on  lot  65  till  her  death  about  1804.  She 
left  a  son  Jeremiah,  b.  1801. 

Paul, — There  were  families  of  this  name  at  Charlestown,  R.  I., 
Mohegan,  Conn.,  and  Montauk,  L.  I.  The  only  one  which  emi- 
grated to  New  York  was  of  the  Narragansett  tribe.  In  the  company 
of  1784  were  Anthony  and  John  Paul,  with  their  families  and  widowed 
mother.  We  think  her  name  was  Mary,  and  her  husband  was  James 
Paul,  living  at  Charlestown  in  a  wigwam  in  1766.  George  Paul  was 
also  a  son. 

Anthony  Paul  was  born  in  1758  ;  married,  about  1777,  Christiana, 
daughter  of  Rev.  Samson  Occom ;  lived  for  a  time  at  Mohegan,  cul- 
tivating Joseph  Johnson's  land;  emigrated  in  1784  to  Brothertown, 
receiving  lot  10  in  1795,  formerly  owned  by  Occom  ;  and  returned 
eastward  about  1797,  locating  near  Lake  George,  where  both  died. 
Occom  baptized  his  children  in  1787,  the  first  in  the  town.  Chn.: 
I.  Samson.  II.  Sarah,  b.  1780.  III.  James,  b.  1782.  IV.  Phebe, 
b.  1784,  Hving  at  B.  in  1843.     V.  Benoni,  b.  1787.     VI.  Jonathan, 


35^ 


APPENDIX 


b.  1 791.  Probably  also  a  daughter  Christiana,  who  married  Thomas 
Kindness. 

Samson  Paul  (1  Anthony),  born  in  1778,  married  (i)  Hannah, 
daughter  of  Samuel  Brushel,  (2)  a  white  woman.  Lot  136  was  given 
to  him  in  1799,  but  he  moved  to  Lake  George  and  died  there.  By 
his  first  wife  he  had  a  son  Nelson,  and  a  daughter  Ehzabeth,  who 
married  Ezekiel  Wiggins. 

Nelson  Paul  (2  Samson,  1  Anthony)  lived  at  Brothertown,  N.  Y., 
and  married  Lura,  daughter  of  B.  G.  Fowler.  Chn.  :  L  Charles,  was 
in  1st  Wis.  Vols.  IL  William,  "  Billy  Paul,"  the  last  of  his  people 
in  the  old  town.  III.  Rhodolphus.  IV.  David  Occom,  who  with 
his  brother  Rodolphus  was  in  a  New  York  regiment  during  the  Civil 
War.     V.   Hannah. 

John  Paul,  a  Revolutionary  soldier  in  Durkee's  regiment,  emigrated 
in  1784,  and  died  in  the  winter  of  1794.  He  located  on  lot  4,  which 
was  assigned  to  his  widow  Penelope  in  1795.  She  died  in  181 1. 
Chn.:  I.  Anne,  b.  1785.  II.  Nathan,  b.  1788,  m.  Sarah,  dau.  of 
Daniel  Skeesuck ;  lived  on  lot  136,  assigned  to  him  in  18 12;  was 
imprisoned  three  years  for  killing  Thomas  Kindness  ;  and  removed  to 
Wisconsin  in  1832,  where  he  died.  III.  Mary,  b.  1790.  IV.  John, 
b.  1792.     V.  Isaiah,  b.  1794. 

George  Paul  was  born  in  1772  ;  probably  removed  to  Brothertown 

in  1784,  and  received  lot  23,  in   1795.     He  married  Lucy ,  and 

they  both  died  before  1828,  when  Solomon,  Moses  and  Bathsheba 
were  heirs.  Chn.  :  I.  Amy,  b.  1794.  II.  Solomon,  b.  1796,  re- 
moved to  Wisconsin  in  1836.  He  m.  (i)  Hannah,  dau.  of  Samuel 
Adams,  who  d.  May  11,  1843,  ^.  35;  (2)  Martha  Waukeet,  widow 
of  Joseph  Palmer,  who  d.  1874.  Ch.:  George.  III.  Moses,  m. 
Rachael  Scippio.     IV.   Bathsheba,  m.  George  Scippio. 

Peters,  Peter, — Montauk  tribe,  Montauk,  L.  I.  In  1761  John  Peter 
and  his  son  John  were  living  at  Montauk,  the  latter  having  four  chil- 
dren. The  son  was  interested  in  the  emigration,  and  was  probably 
the  husband  of  Elizabeth  Peters,  born  in  1737,  who  was  a  widow  in 
1795,  and  received  lot  106.  She  had  children  then  at  Brothertown, 
as  follows:  I.  George,  b.  1761.  II.  Oliver,  b.  1765.  III.  Rhoda. 
IV.   Frederick,  possibly  also  William. 

George  Peters  was  an  early  settler  at  Brothertown,  N.  Y.,  and 
married  Eunice,  daughter  of  Elijah  Wampy.  He  settled  on  lot  118, 
which  he  received  with  lot  125,  in  1795.  He  had  an  evil  temper  and 
was  intemperate.  At  Rome,  N.  Y.,  Feb.  24,  1800,  he  killed  his 
wife,  for  which  crime  he  was  hanged,  Aug.  28,  1801.  See  Jones' 
Aniials  of  Oneida  County,  p.  43.  Chn.:  I.  John,  b.  1787,  and  liv- 
ing at  B.  in  181 1.  II.  Jerusha,  b.  1790,  m.  Josiah  Charles.  III. 
Elisha,  b.  1792. 


APPENDIX  357 

Ofiver  Peters  received  lot  29  in  1795.  His  wife's  name  was  Anne. 
Chn.  :  I.  Nathan,  b.  1791,  living  at  B.  in  1814,  and  may  have  been 
the  father  of  Amos,  whose  sons,  Melancthon,  William  and  Martin, 
are  named  in  1843.  Melancthon  was  in  the  ist  Wis.  Vols.,  and 
William  was  in  Co.  E,  21st  Wis.  Vols.,  and  was  killed  at  Dallas,  Ga., 
June  29,  1864.  II.  Jeremiah,  b.  1795.  HI-  Aurilla,  m.  John  Bald- 
win, had  lot  3  in  1825,  and  inherited  part  of  106  in  1828  from  her 
grandmother,  Elizabeth. 

William  Peters  and  his  wife,  Bridget,  lived  on  lot  148,  assigned  to 
them  in  1804.  He  died  about  1828,  and  the  lot  was  given  to  his 
widow,  to  revert  at  her  death. 

Pharaoh, — Montauk  tribe,  Montauk.  L.  I.  Indians  of  this  name 
were  living  at  Montauk  in  the  seventeenth  century,  and  several  fami- 
lies are  named  in  1761.  Ephraim  Pharaoh  married  Phebe  Fowler, 
both  born  in  1747,  and  was  an  early  settler  at  Brothertown,  N.  Y., 
living  on  lot  17.  He  also  received  in  1795  lot  132,  for  the  support 
of  his  daughter,  Priscilla  Hannable,  a  widow.  He  died  before  1825, 
when  his  lot  went  to  his  widow.  Chn.:  I.  Priscilla,  b.  1772,  d. 
about  181  ^.  II.  Temperance,  m.  B.  G.  Fowler.  III.  Phebe,  b. 
1785. 

Benjamin  Pharaoh  was  a  brother  of  Ephraim,  and  was  born  m 
1762.  He  also  was  an  early  settler  and,  with  his  wife,  Damaris,  lived 
on  lot  124.  Chn.:  I.  Nancy,  b.  1788.  II.  Benjamin,  b.  1790. 
III.   Ephraim,  b.  1794. 

POQUIANTUP,    POUQUENUP,    PaUHQUNNUP,    UpPUIQUIYANTUP, — Pc- 

quot  tribe,  Groton,  Conn.,  or  Niantic  tribe,  Niantic,  Conn.  This  was 
a  prominent  family  of  Christian  Indians,  and  seems  to  have  had  one 
branch  at  Groton  and  another  at  Niantic.  Occom  names  Joseph  and 
Isaac  at  the  latter  place,  and  Isaac  was  his  cousin.  He  had  an  aunt, 
"  Hannah  Justice,"  there,  who  may  have  been  Isaac's  mother.  His 
language  also  indicates  that  he  was  related  to  the  family  at  Groton. 
Hannah  Poquiantup,  Wheelock's  pupil,  was  from  Niantic.  In  1766 
Samson  and  Esther  Poquiantup,  with  a  family,  were  living  at  Groton, 
Esther  being  of  the  Mohegan  tribe.  She  became  a  widow  before 
1787,  and  removed  to  Brothertown,  N.  Y.  Her  epitaph  in  the  Deans- 
ville  cemetery  reads:  "In  Memory  of  Esther  Pouquenup,  who  was  a 
member  of  the  Mohegan  Tribe  of  Indians.  Died  Jan.  22,  1822,  a 
practical  and  exemplary  Christian,  Aged  96  years  &  3  months." 
One  daughter,  Esther,  married  Jacob  Fowler.  There  was  also  a 
daughter  Eunice.  The  epitaph  of  Prude  Harry,  in  the  Deansville 
cemetery,  says  she  was  the  "  daughter  of  Sampson  and  Eunice  Pou- 
quenup," a  statement  which  we  cannot  reconcile  with  the  above  facts 
unless  there  was  a  son   Samson.     Aaron  Poquiantup,  a  single  man, 


358 


APPENDIX 


with  whom  his  mother's  family  were  living,  received  lot  130  at  Broth- 
ertown,  in  1795.  His  epitaph  at  Dickville  says  he  was  "a  member 
of  the  Nahantic  tribe  of  Indians,  R.  I.''  He  was  town  treasurer,  1808 
to  1810,  and  his  lot  was  sold  for  his  benefit  in  1832,  He  died  Dec. 
2,  1835,  ^G-  5^'  ^i^d  his  wife  Lovinia  died  Aug.  14,  1835,  ^^-  45- 
Solomon  Poquiantup,  probably  his  brother,  received  lot  137  in  1804. 

Potter, — Narragansett  tribe,  Charlestown,  R.  I.  Sampson  Potter 
emigrated  to  Brothertown  about  1804,  and  received-  lot  147  in  18 13. 
He  was  probably  a  son  of  Daniel  and  Mary  Potter,  of  Charlestown, 
in  1783.  Amy  Potter,  who  married  Jacob  Fowler,  and  Hannah  Pot- 
ter, who  married  William  Dick,  were  probably  his  kindred.  Samp- 
son died  about  1832,  when  his  lot  was  sold  for  the  benefit  of  Jason, 
Katura  and  Sally  Potter,  and  Rasselas  Scippio,  his  heirs.  Jason 
married  Carlin  Cook,  and  they  had  a  son  Henry  in  the  32d  Wis. 
Vols. ,  who  was  frozen  to  death  on  Winnebago  Lake. 

ROBBINS,  ROBBENS,  ROBiN, — Tunxis  tribe,  Farmington,  Conn.  This 
family  originally  came  from  Middletown,  and  belonged  to  the  Wan- 
gunk  tribe.  David  Robin,  of  Farmington,  was  interested  in  the  emi- 
gration in  1773,  but  probably  died  before  1777.  His  wife  Hannah 
owned  land  there  at  that  date.  She  removed  to  Brothertown,  N.  Y., 
with  her  daughter  Rhoda,  and  received  lot  116.  Rhoda  died  about 
1814,  and  her  mother  in  1827. 

Roberts, — In  1797  lot  102,  at  Brothertown,  was  assigned  to  Abi- 
gail, the  wife  of  Thomas  Roberts.  It  was  forfeited  later,  and  lot  loi 
was  given  her  in  1821,  part  of  which  was  sold  in  1833  for  Abigail 
Roberts,  and  the  balance  in  1842  for  Abigail  Fowler,  probably  a 
daughter.     Both  are  named  in  the  list  of  1843. 

Sampson, — Pequot  tribe,  Groton,  Conn.  In  1762  "  Sampson,  a 
likely  Indian,"  aged  33,  was  living  in  a  house  at  Mushantuxet.  He 
had  eight  children,  one  of  whom  was  James.  He  died  before  1787, 
when  his  wife  is  called  "Widow  Sampson.''  She  was  an  earnest 
Christian  Indian.  James  removed  to  13rothertown,  N.  Y.,  with  his 
wife  Sarah  and  their  children  about  1797,  when  lot  10,  formerly 
owned  by  Samson  Occom  and  Anthony  Paul,  was  assigned  to  him. 
He  died  about   1815.     Chn.  :   I.  George.     II.  Abel.     III.  Eveline. 

IV.  David,  who  received  part  of  lot  112   in  1828,  and  died  in  N.  Y. 

V.  James,  d.  in  N.  Y.  Vi.  Fanny.  VII.  John,  who  received  part 
of  lot  1 13  in  1828. 

In  the  census  list  of  1843,  the  following  names  are  found  which 
probably  represent  the  families  of  David,  James,  or  John  Sampson — 
Moses,    Catharine,  George   W.,  Emily,   Rufus,  Alonzo,  Avery,  Avis, 


APPENDIX  359 

and  Mills  W.  Clark  D.  Sampson  was  also  a  descendant.  He  mar- 
ried Rozina  Matthews,  removed  to  Wisconsin,  and  died  in  1884,  aged 
65  They  had  sons,  James  J.  and  George,  in  Co.  E,  2rst  Wis. 
Vols.,  the  latter  dying  March  6,  1865,  and  a  daughter,  Almira  J., 
the  wife  of  O.  D.  Dick. 

George  Sampson  (1  James)  married  Lucena,  daughter  of  William 
Dick  ;  received  part  of  lot  112  in  181 7  ;  was  a  peacemaker  from  1821 
to  1824,  and  died  at  Brothertown,  N.  Y.,  in  1839.  His  lot  was  then 
disposed  of  for  his  daughters.  Chn.  :  I.  Delia  (Adelia)  m.  John 
Matthews.  II.  Maria,  m.  Ransom  Matthews.  III.  Jane,  m.  John 
Foss,  a  white  man.     IV.   Sophia,  m.  John  Coyhis. 

Abel  Sampson  (i  James)  married  Esther,  daughter  of  John  M. 
Simons;  received  lot  115  in  18 19;  and  died  at  Brothertown  about 
1830.  His  widow  removed  to  Wisconsin  in  1844.  Chn.:  I.  James. 
II.  Melinda  (Malvina).  III.  WeltheaA.  IV.  Grizel  H.  V.  Ralph 
W.     VI.  EHza  E. 

SCIPPIO, — This  family  came  from  Montauk,  but  the  name  is  not 
found  in  early  lists  of  that  tribe.  Two  brothers,  Samuel  and  Obadiah, 
were  among  the  first  settlers  at  Brothertown,  N.  Y. 

Samuel  Scippio,  born  in  1764,  and  his  wife  Charlotte,  born  in  1767, 
with  five  children,  were  living  on  lot  21  in  1795.  He  was  a  peace- 
maker from  1796  to  1807,  and  from  18 12  to  1820.  He  died  shortly 
after  the  latter  date.  His  widow,  "  Loty  Scippio,"  was  living  in 
1843.  Chn.:  I.  Sarah,  b.  1787,  m.  Anthony*.  II.  Isaac,  b.  1789, 
received  lot  50  in  18:3,  which  he  and  his  wife  Julia  sold  in  1829,  re- 
moving in  1831  to  Wisconsin,  where  they  died.  III.  Jacob,  b  1791, 
received  lot  97  in  18 13,  married  Clarinda,  daughter  of  Elijah  Wam- 
py,  who  inherited  from  her  father  in  1828,  and  removed  later  to  Wis- 
consin. They  returned  East  during  the  time  of  cholera,  and  were 
never  heard  of  more.  IV.  Esther,  b.  1793.  V.  Abraham,  b.  1795- 
VI.  Richard,  who  received  lot  64  in  1824.  VII.  Phebe,  m. 
Denny,  of  the  Oneida  tribe. 

Obadiah  Scippio  was  born  in  1766.  He  married  Elizabeth,  daugh- 
ter of  David  Fowler,  removed  to  Brothertown,  and  settled  on  lot  13. 
He  died  about  1806.  His  widow  afterwards  married  George  Crosley, 
removed  to  Wisconsin,  and  died  there.  Chn.:  I.  Dennis,  b.  1791, 
and  living  in  1816.  II.  George,  b.  May  18,  1795,  married  Bath- 
sheba  Paul,  removed  to  Wisconsin  in  1836,  and  was  drowned  in  Fox 
River.  III.  Celinda,  m.  James  Simons.  IV.  Cynthia.  V.  Rachel, 
m.  Moses  Paul.      VI.   Calvin. 

Seketer,  Sicketor,  Secutor,  Sequettass,— Narragansett  tribe, 
Charlestown,  R.  I.  This  family  was  very  influential  in  colonial  times. 
John  Secutor,  a  son  of  David  Seketer,  sent  his  daughter,  Mary  Sequet- 


360  APPENDIX 

tass,  toWheelock's  school  in  1763,  and  in  1767,  his  son,  John  Secutor, 
was  a  pupil.  The  son  was  interested  in  the  emigration  plans,  and  may 
have  gone  to  Brothertown,  but  he  did  not  become  a  permanent 
settler.  He  was  later  a  councilor  of  the  tribe,  and  died  at  Charles- 
town.  His  son  John  and  daughter  Mary,  however,  removed  to 
Brothertown,  N.  Y. 

John  Seketer  (5?John,  ijohn)  was  at  Brothertown  in  1807,  when  he 
was  chosen  marshal.  In  18 13  lot  32  was  assigned  to  him,  and,  in 
1814,  part  of  lot  52.  He  was  a  peacemaker  from  1820  to  1822.  In 
1832  he  sold  his  estate  and  removed  to  Wisconsin.  He  married 
Lucy,  daughter  of  James  Niles,  who  died  about  1830.  Chn.  :  I. 
Samantha,  m.  Alexander  Dick.  II.  Charlotta,  who  removed  with 
her  father  and  married  John  Wilber,  a  white  man.  III.  Charles, 
who  married  Abigail,  daughter  of  Thomas  Wiott,  and  died  in  N.  Y., 
leaving  sons  Milo  C.  and  John  D.  IV.  Grace,  m.  Samuel  Skeesuck. 
V.  Sarah. 

Shelley, — Pequot  tribe,  Stonington,  Conn.  Several  families  of  this 
name  were  living  there  in  1788,  from  one  of  which  Bradley  and 
Simeon  Shelley  were  descended.  The  former  removed  to  Brother- 
town,  N.  Y.,  about  1830,  and  received  lot  146.  The  latter  was  there 
earlier  and  received  lot  68  in  1820.  This  was  sold  in  1834,  and  he 
afterwards  removed  to  Brothertown,  Wis.,  where  he  died  June  25, 
i860,  aged  59.  His  wife,  Sabrina  Welch,  died  Nov.  2,  1869,  aged 
65.  They  had  six  sons  in  the  Civil  War:  Elias,  in  the  3d  Wis. 
Vols.,  Henry  and  Simeon  in  Co.  E.  21st  Wis.  Vols.,  Lewis  in  Co. 
H.  32d  Wis.  Vols.,  David  in  Co.  K.  19th  Wis.  Vols.,  and  John  in 
the  "Pioneer  Corps.'' 

Simons,  Simon,— Narragansett  tribe,  Charlestown,  R.  I.  Sarah 
Simons  was  one  of  the  most  faithful  Christian  Indians  in  this  tribe. 
In  1767  she  was  a  widow  with  a  family  of  children,  and  we  conjecture 
that  her  husband  was  John  Simon,  named  in  a  list  of  1761.  She 
sent  five  children  to  Wheelock's  school,  as  elsewhere  stated,  all  of 
whom  were  interested  in  the  emigration,  though  only  Abraham  and 
Emanuel  removed  to  Brothertown. 

Abraham  Simons,  born  at  Charlestown  about  1750,  and  educated 
under  Doctor  Wheelock.  was  probably  one  of  the  young  men  who 
went  to  Oneida  before  the  Revolution.  He  returned  when  the  war 
broke  out,  and  enlisted  in  Capt.  Prentice's  company  of  the  Sixth 
Connecticut  regiment.  After  the  war  he  returned  early  to  Oneida, 
and  was  one  of  the  trustees  chosen  in  1785.  He  was  then  married, 
but  his  wife  died  in  1786.  He  married  again  July  26,  1787,  Sarah, 
daughter  of  John  Adams.  He  is  frequently  mentioned  by  Occom, 
and  is  said  to  have  led  an  exemplary  life.     He  died  at  Brothertown, 


APPENDIX  361 

and  Occom  attended  his  funeral.  Lot  12  was  assigned  to  his  widow 
in  1795,  and  was  no  doubt  the  early  location  of  his  pioneer  hut.  In 
1797  the  house  stood  in  the  highway,  and  she  was  ordered  to  remove 
it.  Her  age  was  43  years  in  1795,  and  she  was  living  in  1800.  Her 
lot  passed  to  Eliphalet  Marthers,  and  he  sold  it  in  1832.  Abra- 
ham and  Sarah  Simons  had  a  son  Reuben,  born  in  1790,  who 
practised  medicine  in  an  Indian  fashion  at  Brothertown  until  about 
1826. 

Emanuel  Simons,  born  about  1746,  after  attending  school  for  a 
time  at  Lebanon,  returned  to  Charlestown.  In  1775  he  and  his 
brother  James  enlisted  in  Capt.  Edward  Mott's  company  of  the  Sixth 
Connecticut  regiment.  He  was  then  married  and  had  a  family. 
About  1800  he  removed,  with  his  children  then  grown,  to  Brother- 
town,  where  he  died  in  1806.  He  received  lot  iii  in  1804,  which 
was  divided  among  his  heirs  in  1829.  Chn.  :  I.  John  Mason.  II. 
James.  III.  Dennis,  d.  unm.  in  Wis.  IV.  Cynthia,  m.  Joseph  M. 
Ouinney  of  the  Stockbridge  tribe. 

John  Mason  Simons  (^Emanuel)  came  with  his  father  to  Brother- 
town,  and  was  chosen  marshal  in  1801.  He  received  lots  107  and 
108  in  1804,  and  is  said  to  have  died  in  1822.  His  estate  was 
divided  in  1833,  doubtless  after  the  death  of  his  wife  Lucy.  Chn.  : 
I.  Esther,  m.  Abel  Sampson.  II.  Sarah,  m.  James  Fowler.  III. 
Emeline,  m.  Jaques.     IV.   Moses,  d.  young. 

James  Simons  (^Emanuel)  was  born  at  Charlestown,  R.  I.,  March 
7,  1790,  came  as  a  youth  to  Brothertown  and  received  lot  98  in 
18 12.  He  served  as  a  soldier  in  the  War  of  18 12,  and  was  by  trade 
a  plow-maker.  He  married  Celinda  (Sylinda)  daughter  of  Obadiah 
Scippio,  who  removed  to  Wisconsin  in  1835,  whither  her  son  James 
had  preceded  her.  The  father  was  killed  by  an  accident  in  1825. 
Chn.:   I.  Elizabeth,  m.  David  Fowler.     II.  James. 

James  Simons  ('^James,  ^Emanuel)  was  born  at  Brothertown, 
N.  Y.,  Jan.  21,  1821,  and  died  at  Kaukauna,  Wis.,  Jan.  25,  1898. 
He  removed  to  Wisconsin  in  1835,  and  during  his  later  years  lived  at 
Kaukauna,  where  a  son  survives  him.  He  was  a  carpenter  by  trade 
and  also  cultivated  a  farm.  At  the  time  of  his  death  he  was  one  of 
the  Headmen  of  the  Brothertown  Indians,  and  was  greatly  respected 
as  an  intelligent  and  honorable  citizen. 

Skeesuck,  Sheesuck,  Schesuck,  Skeezuc,  Skieezup, — Narragan- 
sett  tribe,  Charlestown,  R.  I.  John  Skeesuck  was  one  of  the  early  set- 
tlers at  Brothertown,  and  he  came  from  Charlestown.  He  was  born 
in  1746,  and  his  name  occurs  in  a  list  of  1763.  Probably  Elizabeth 
Skeesuck,  a  widow  with  three  sons  in  1761,  was  his  mother,  and  we 
think  his  father  was  John  Skeesuck,  a  soldier  in  1755. 

John  Skeesuck  was  interested   in  the  emigration   plans,   and    was 


362  Appendix 

Johnson's  companion  in  1775.  He  was  a  Revolutionary  soldier  in 
Col.  John  Topham's  regiment  of  Rhode  Island  troops  in  1775,  and 
probably  saw  later  service.  He  removed  to  Brothertown  after  the 
war  and  located  on  lot  26.  He  was  a  peacemaker  from  1796  to  1807, 
and  probably  died  in  office.  His  wife's  name  was  Anne,  born  in 
1747.  The  following  were  certainly  their  children,  and  there  were 
probably  others  older :  I.  Christopher,  b.  1776,  who  received  lot  22 
in  1804,  was  town  clerk  from  1804  to  1809,  and  died  at  Brother- 
town,  leaving  a  son  John,  his  only  heir,  in  1831.  H.  Sarah,  b.  1780. 
ni.  John,  b.  in  1782,  received  lot  -]-]  in  1804.  IV.  Charlotte,  b. 
1790,  m.  William  Johnson. 

John  Skeesuck  (sChristopher,  ijohn)  was  born  in  1782,  married 
Hannah  Galin,  inherited  lot  22  from  his  father  and  lot  26  from  his 
grandmother  Anne.  Lot  83  also  was  assigned  to  him.  They  had  a 
son  Henry  who  removed  to  Wisconsin. 

Daniel  Skeesuck  came  from  Charlestown  to  Brothertown  about 
1800.  One  of  this  name  is  in  a  list  of  1763,  and  was  a  councilor  of 
his  tribe  in  1774,  continuing  as  such  to  1791.  We  do  not  know 
whether  he  or  his  father  was  the  Indian  who  settled  in  Brothertown. 
The  emigrant  was  well  advanced  in  life,  however,  and  we  think  he 
was  a  brother  of  John  Skeesuck,  He  received  lots  43  and  48  in 
1804,  and  at  the  same  time  lots  were  assigned  to  Simon  and  Bennet 
Skeesuck,  probably  the  sons  of  John  or  Daniel.  The  estate  of 
Daniel  Skeesuck  was  divided  in  1828,  the  following  heirs  receiving 
shares — Samuel  Skeesuck,  Sen.,  Daniel  Skeesuck,  Sally,  the  wife 
of  Nathan  Paul,  Nancy,  the  wife  of  Asa  Dick,  Eliza  and  Martha 
Skeesuck,  and  Abigail  15rushel.  Eliza  and  Martha  Skeesuck  are  said 
to  have  been  daughters  of  Arnold  Skeesuck,  which  indicates  that 
Arnold  was  a  son  of  Daniel. 

Samuel  Skeesuck  (iDaniel)  was  born  at  Charlestown  in  1772.  He 
married  JMary  Seketer,  born  in  1775,  a  sister  of  John  Seketer,  and 
they  were  at  Brothertown  in  1795.  She  died  in  New  York,  but 
he  removed  to  Wisconsin  in  his  old  age.  Chn.  :  I.  Daniel,  m. 
Sylvia  Abner;  received  lot  80  in  1827;  removed  to  Wisconsin  and 
in  1852  to  Kansas,  where  both  died,  leaving  a  daughter  Mary.  II. 
Abraham,  m.  Adeline,  daughter  of  Paul  Dick;  received  lot  70,  which 
was  sold  for  him  in  1829  :  and  removed  to  Wisconsin  in  1832.  They 
had  children,  Mary,  Lester  and  Lyman.  III.  Samuel,  m.  Grace, 
daughter  of  John  Seketer;  received  lot  69  in  1821,  and  removed  to 
Wisconsin.  Their  children  were  Solomon,  called  Sykes,  who  was  in 
the  Civil  War  and  died  after  reaching  home,  Dorcas,  and  John  who 
was  in  Co.  H,  5th  Wis.  Vols.,  and  died  at  Brothertown,  Wis.  IV. 
Fanny,  m.  Hezekiah  Fowler.     V.   Lucy,  m.  Henry  Welch. 

Arnold  Skeesuck,  probably  the  son  of  Daniel,  received  lot  49  in 
1804.  which   was  sold  in   1836,   Eliza,   Arnold  and   Abigail  having 


APPENDIX  363 

shares.  He  died  at  Brothertown,  N.  Y.,  about  1820,  and  his  widow 
married  B.  G.  Fowler.  Chn.  :  I.  Arnold.  II.  Samuel.  III.  David. 
IV.  Eliza.  V.  Martha.  VI.  Abigail  (?).  George  Skeesuck,  whose 
mother  was  Thankful  Dick,  is  thought  to  have  been  also  of  this 
family.  He  married  Abigail  Johnson,  and  removed  to  Wisconsin. 
They  had  a  son,  Rufus,  in  Co.  I,  5th  Wis.  Vols. 

Arnold  Skeesuck  (^Arnold)  married  Hannah  Walker,  a  white 
woman,  removed  to  Wisconsin,  and  died  March  i,  1877,  aged  60. 
She  died  June  4,  1873,  ^ged  60.  Chn.  :  I.  Sylvester  was  in  Co.  A, 
2d  Wis.  Cav.  II.  Madison  was  in  Co.  D,  35th  Wis.  Vols.,  and  died 
at  Port  Hudson,  May  22,  1864. 

Simon  Skeesuck  came  to  Brothertown  about  1800,  and  settled  on 
.lot  51,  assigned  to  him  in  1804.  In  1824  this  was  given  to  his  son, 
Daniel,  on  condition  that  he  support  his  mother  if  she  becomes 
chargeable.  It  was  sold  for  "  Daniel  Skeesuck,  ist,"  in  1835.  The 
wife  of  Simon  Skeesuck  is  said  to  have  borne  the  name  Hannah,  and 
their  son,  Simon,  was  in  the  3d  Regiment  Wis.  Vols.,  and  was 
killed. 

Tocus, — Joseph  Tocus  is  said  to  have  come  to  Brothertown  from 
Charlestown.  He  received  lot  59  in  1813,  and  married  Grace, 
daughter  of  George  Crosley.  They  sold  in  1834,  and  removed  to 
Wisconsin.  Later,  he  went  to  Kansas  and  died  there.  She  was 
well  educated,  and  taught  a  school  in  the  Indian  town.  Thomas 
Tokus,  of  the  Brothertown  tribe,  was  a  soldier  in  the  Civil  War,  but 
his  relationship  is  unknown. 

TouCEE,  TowsEY,  TowcEE,  TowsEE, — Tunxis  tribe,  Farmington, 
Conn.  David  and  Sarah  Towsey  were  the  results  of  early  instruc- 
tion at  Farmington,  and  became  influential  Christian  Indians.  He 
was  a  soldier  in  Capt.  John  Patterson's  company  in  1755  and  1756, 
and  in  Col.  Nathan  Whiting's  company  in  1762.  In  1769  he  sold 
his  land  at  Indian  Neck,  being  then  "of  Stockbridge,"  and  in  1774 
he  was  at  Kingsbury,  near  Fort  Edward.  He  maintained,  however, 
his  tribal  interest,  and  was  sometimes  at  Farmington.  In  1772  he 
wrote  Doctor  Wheelock,  asking  him  to  take  his  two  sons  for  instruc- 
tion. Benjamin  was  at  Hanover  in  1777.  David  Towsey  died  about 
1778,  and  his  widow  removed  to  Brothertown,  receiving  lot  45  in 
1796.  As  it  was  afterwards  forfeited,  she  doubtless  returned  to  New 
England.     Chn.:   I.   Benjamin.     II.  Joseph,  b.  1769. 

Benjamin  Toucee  (^  David)  was  born  in  1765  at  Farmington, 
attended  school  there  and  at  Hanover,  and  was  a  Revolutionary 
soldier  in  Capt.  HulFs  company  from  West  Stockbridge,  Mass., 
being  then  aged  17.  He  married  Elizabeth,  daughter  of  Andrew 
Curricomb,   and  they  removed  to    Brothertown,    settling  on   lot  20, 


364 


APPENDIX 


assigned  to  him  in  1795.  Both  died  there,  and  his  lot  was  sold  for 
his  children  in  1828.  Chn.  :  I.  Aaron,  b.  1793,  received  his  grand- 
mother's lot  in  1817,  which  was  sold  for  him  in  1828.  He  married 
Lydia  Brushel.  11.  Sarah  Ann,  m.  Eikanah  Dick.  III.  David,  born 
at  Brolhertovvn,  Aug.  9,  1800,  was  bound  out  to  the  Misses  Kirkland 
when  eleven  years  old.  In  1824  he  received  part  of  lot  87.  He  mar- 
ried Eunice,  daughter  of  Josiah  Charles,  and  they  removed  to  Wis- 
consin, where  he  died  about  1844,  and  she  in  1886. 

ToxcoiT,  ToxcoiET, — James  Toxcoit  of  the  Narragansett  tribe, 
born  in  1744,  was  an  early  emigrant  to  Brothertown,  where  he  leased 
his  lot  in  1791  to  Abraham  Oaks.  In  1795  he  received  lot  19.  His 
wife's  name  was  Barsha,  born  in  1753.  They  both  died  at  Brother- 
town  . 

TuHiE,  TuHUY,  TuHi,  TuHiGH,  ToHOY,— Narragansett  tribe, 
Charlestown,  R.  I.  In  the  census  of  1761  is  the  name  John  Tohoy, 
then  above  16  years,  and  the  son  of  Joseph  and  Jane.  We  have  reason 
to  think  that  this  was  John  Tuhie,  born  in  1744,  who  was  interested 
in  the  emigration,  and  removed  to  Brothertown  after  the  Revolution. 
Lots  II  and  18  were  assigned  to  him  in  1795,  ^^'^^  latter  for  the  sup- 
port of  Elizabeth  Cognehew,  a  widow,  aged  60.  He  was  a  prominent 
man  and  a  peacemaker  from  1796  to  181 1.  His  epitaph  reads  "  John 
Tuhie  Esq.  Died  December  14,  181 1.  Aged  65  years."  His  wife, 
Sarah,  outlived  him,  and  became  blind.  They  had  a  son,  Jeremiah, 
and  also  brought  up  John  and  Mary  Charles.  Jeremiah  Tuhie  was 
born  in  1768,  married  Jerusha  Charles,  born  in  1772,  came  to  Broth- 
ertown in  1788,  and  settled  on  lot  8.  Chn.:  I.  Eliza.  II.  John, 
who  had  a  cousin  Joseph  Tuhie,  whom  he  killed  in  a  quarrel.  See 
Jones'  Annals  of  Oneida  County,  p.  44. 

Wampy,  Wimpey,  Weampy,  Weampee, — Tunxis  tribe.  Farming- 
ton,  Conn.  Elijah  Wampy,  born  in  1734,  was  one  of  the  well 
known  Indians  of  his  day.  He  was  educated  in  the  Farmington 
school,  owned  land  there,  and  bought  more,  served  as  a  soldier  in 
1757,  and  became  conspicuous  in  tribal  affairs.  He  was  one  of  the 
leaders  in  the  emigration  plans,  and  removed  to  Oneida  in  1775. 
During  the  Revolution  he  was  at  Stockbridge,  but  returned  as  soon 
as  it  was  safe  to  do  so,  settling  on  lot  117,  where  he  lived  until  his 
death.  Incidents  of  his  adventurous  life  in  the  wilderness  were 
related  among  the  early  settlers  for  years.  He  was  foremost  in  the 
Brothertown  land  troubles,  having  an  ambition  for  authority,  which 
was  never  gratified.  He  died,  probably,  about  1802.  His  wife, 
Jerusha,  died  before  I795-  We  think  she  was  a  second  wife,  and 
his  first  was  Eunice  W^aucus,   who   died  at  Farmington.     Chn.  :   I. 


APPENDIX  365 

Eunice,  d.  1767,  ae.  3.  II.  Elijah.  III.  Eunice,  2d,  m.  George 
Peters.  IV.  Sarah.  V.  Hannah.  VI.  Charles,  who  received  lot 
63  in  1804.  VII.  Esther.  VIII.  Jerusha,  m.  Charles.  The  heirs 
to  lot  117,  in  1831,  were  Elijah,  Esther,  Jersuha  and  Clarinda. 

Elijah  Wampy  (i  Elijah)  was  born  in  1765,  and  married  widow 
Elizabeth  Peters,  born  in  1761,  whose  daughter,  Mary  Peters,  was 
living  with  them  in  1795.  He  lived  on  lot  15,  and  died  at  Brother- 
town  about  181 2.  In  1828,  his  only  living  child  was  Clarinda,  born 
in  1 791,  who  married  Jacob  Scippio,  though  he  had  a  son,  Elijah, 
born  in  1794. 

Wauby,  Wobby,  Wappy,  Wobi,  Woyboy, — Narragansett  or  Pe- 
quot  tribe.  Roger  Wauby,  born  in  1734,  belonged  to  a  family  orig- 
inally of  the  Pequot  tribe.  Some  of  that  name  lived  at  Mushantuxet. 
He  had  land  rights  at  Stonington,  and  his  name  is  found  in  their  lists. 
In  1765,  however,  he  was  living  among  the  Narragansetts,  and  he 
signed  with  them  in  1767.  He  was  related  to  Samson  Wauby, 
Wheelock's  pupil — probably  a  brother.  Occom  called  him  "  Brother 
Roger,"  and  we  think  they  were  related  through  Occom's  mother. 
He  was  one  of  the  foremost  in  the  emigration  scheme ;  became  a 
Revolutionary  soldier  in  Capt.  Samuel  Prentice's  company  of  the 
Sixth  Connecticut  regiment ;  and,  after  the  war,  removed  to  Oneida, 
becoming  one  of  the  founders  of  Brothertown.  His  first  location  was 
found  to  be  west  of  the  town,  and  he  moved  to  lot  3.  He  is  said  to 
have  lived  a  consistent  Christian  life,  and  was  a  devoted  friend  of 
Samson  Occom.  He  died  before  1819,  when  his  lot  was  assigned  to 
his  son,  Isaac.  His  widow,  Mary,  was  living  in  1808.  Chn.  :  I. 
Isaac.  II.  A  daughter,  who  married  a  Paul,  and  whose  sons,  An- 
drew and  John  were  living  with  him  in  1795.  III.  Daniel,  who 
married  Rhoda  Charles,  daughter  of  James  Niles,  received  lots  30 
and  31  in  1797,  and  died  before  18 17.  His  widow  held  lot  30  during 
her  life,  and  it  was  sold  for  Oliver  Charles  in  1843.     IV.  Joseph. 

Isaac  Wauby  (^  Roger)  born  in  1762,  lived  on  lot  28.  He  mar- 
ried Jane,  daughter  of  Thomas  Patchauker,  who  was  probably  his 
second  wife.  He  had  a  fair  education,  and  became  an  exhorter  of 
the  Freewill  Baptist  order,  being  known  as  "Elder  Wauby." 
About  181 2  he  became  a  naturalized  citizen,  the  first  of  his  people  to 
secure  the  honor.  He  moved  to  White  River,  Ind.,  where  he  died. 
His  widow  returned  to  Brothertown,  and  in  1825  held  part  of  lot  3. 
Ch.:  Jehoiakim,  b.  1791. 

Joseph  Wauby  (1  Roger)  was  born  in  1776,  and  married  Phebe, 
daughter  of  James  Niles.  They  lived  on  lot  33,  in  1804.  In  1831, 
part  of  lot  3  was  sold  for  Isaac,  James,  John  and  Silas  Wauby,  and 
Jerusha  Dick  "  heirs  of  Joseph  Wauby  deceased.''  A  daughter,  Cyn- 
thia, married  Thomas  Dick.     His  son,  Isaac,  married  Mary  Jakeways 


366  APPENDIX 

and  they  moved  to  Wisconsin  in  1834,  where  he  died  about  1870, 
and  she  Dec.  3,  1888,  aged  78.  Their  children  were  Anion,  Sarah, 
Aaron,  who  was  in  Co.  D,  35th  Wis.  Vols.,  and  died  at  Morganzia, 
Aug.  14,  1864,  and  Lewis,  who  was  in  Co.  A,  2d  Wis.  Cav.,  and 
died  after  his  return  from  the  war.  Joseph's  son,  James,  married 
Eunice,  daughter  of  Paul  Dick,  and  removed  to  Wisconsin. 

Waucus,  Waukas,  Wowous,  Wo\vowous,  Wawawis, — Tunxis 
tribe,  Farmington,  Conn.  This  was  one  of  the  original  families  of  the 
tribe.  In  1688  Wawawis  was  one  of  the  two  chosen  Tunxis  chiefs. 
He  died  before  1727,  when  his  four  children,  Peathus,  Achatowset, 
James  and  Eunice  released  the  land  he  had  owned,  commonly  called 
Indian  Neck.  James  Wowowous  had  a  son,  James,  born  in  1728. 
He  attended  the  early  schools  at  Farmington,  became  a  soldier  in 
Capt.  John  Patterson's  company  in  1755  and  1756,  and  in  Capt. 
Timothy  Northam's  company,  ist  Regiment  N.  Y.  troops,  raised  in 
Connecticut  in  1762.  His  wife's  name  was  Rachel.  In  1771  he  is 
"James  Wowous  of  Farmington,  now  of  Stockbridge."  He  was 
engaged  in  the  emigration  scheme,  went  to  Oneida  before  the  Revo- 
lution, but  died  before  1778,  when  "Rachel  Wowous"  sold  their 
Farmington  lands.  They  had  children,  Susannah  and  James,  and 
perhaps  others. 

James  Waucus  (^ James,  ^ James,  1  Wawawis)  was  born  in  1768 
and  became  a  pupil  in  Joseph  Johnson's  school  at  Farmington.  He 
married  Philena,  daughter  of  Solomon  Adams,  and  settled  at  Brother- 
town  on  lot  9.  In  1795  his  wife's  sister,  Damaris,  who  afterwards 
married  Jacob  Thomas,  was  living  with  them.  The  sisters  sold  land 
at  Farmington  in  1801.  He  died  about  1806  and  his  widow  married 
Thomas  Crosley.     Olive  Sampson  was  heir  to  lot  9  in  1837. 

Waukeet,  Waukeets,  Waukete,  Walkeat, — Niantic  tribe, 
Niantic.  Conn.  This  was  an  old  and  prominent  Indian  family.  Joshua 
Waukeet  was  the  only  one  who  removed  to  Brothertown.  He  received 
lot  60  in  1804,  and  died  there,  leaving  a  widow  Susannah,  living  in 
1812.  Martha  Palmer,  Mary  Paul,  and  Lucy  Waukeet,  sisters,  who 
went  to  Wisconsin  from  Niantic,  were  of  this  family. 

Wiggins, — Among  the  settlers  at  Brothertown,  N.  Y.,  in  1795, 
was  James  Wiggins  Titus.  He  dropped  the  last  name  later.  He 
married  Anne,  daughter  of  Andrew  Curricomb,  and  they  lived  on  lots 
122  and  123.  Chn.  :  I.  Martin.  11.  Mary,  b.  1793.  IIL  Samson. 
Perhaps,  also,  Ethan  Wiggins  was  a  son. 

Martin  Wiggins  (^ James),  born  in  1791,  lived  at  Brothertown, 
N.  Y.  He  is  believed  to  have  been  the  father  of  David  and  Ezekiel. 
The  former  married  Louisa  Hammar  and  they  lived  at  Brothertown, 


APPENDIX  367 

Wis.  Their  son  Leander  married  Henrietta  Brushel,  was  in  Co.  E, 
2ist  Wis.  Vols.,  and  died  at  Chaplin  Hills,  Oct.  8,  1862.  Another 
son  was  in  Co.  A,  2d  Wis.  Cav.,  and  died  in  the  service.  Ezekiel 
Wiggins  married  Elizabeth,  daughter  of  Samson  Paul,  and  they 
removed  to  Wisconsin.  Their  son  Martin  married  Mary  Ann  Denny, 
an  Oneida  Indian,  and  they  had  a  son  Martin  in  Co.  E.,  21st  Wis. 
Vols.,  who  died  Nov.  30,  1862. 

Samson  Wiggins  (i  James)  was  born  about  1796,  and  received  lot 
143  in  1824.  He  married  and  had  the  following  children,  for  whom 
his  lot  was  sold  in  1833:  I.  Eli,  who  was  in  the  i8th  Wis.  Vols., 
and  died  at  Brothertown,  Wis.  II.  James.  III.  Samuel  IV.  Char- 
lotte, m.  William  Johnson.  \.  Seth.  VI.  Hiram,  who  was  in  a 
N.  Y.  regiment  in  the  war. 

WiOTT,  Wyatt,  Wiutt,  Wiat, — Thomas  Wiat,  aged  24,  was  at 
Brothertown  in  1795,  and  received  lot  135.  In  1828  his  land  was 
sold  for  Thomas  and  Caroline  Wiott.  He  died  before  1831.  Chn.  : 
I.  Thomas,  who  received  lot  149  in  1827.  II.  Daniel.  III.  Abi- 
gail, m.  Seketer.  The  son  Daniel  received  lot  (88)  in  1821,  where 
he  and  his  wife  Rachel  lived.  They  had  a  son  Romance,  or  "Matt,'' 
born  in  1826,  who  was  brought  up  by  Cynthia  Dick,  removed  to  Wis- 
consin, but  returned  to  New  York  later,  and  worked  on  the  Erie 
Canal.  He  was  in  Co.  K,  26th  N.  Y.  Vols.,  in  the  war.  At  the 
last  accounts  he  had  gone  to  spend  his  old  age  in  the  town  where  so 
many  of  his  people  are  buried  in  forgotten  graves. 


INDEX 


Abner,  Randall,  315,  320,  325,  328. 

Adams,  Rev.  Eliphalet,  25-32,  64,  197,  199. 

Adams,  Solomon,  202,  203,  212,  285. 

Amherst,  Sir  Jeffery,  88-91. 

Apes,  William,  17. 

Ashbow,  Rev.  Samuel,  34n.,   74-78,   98,   iGin.,  167,  194,  197,  198,  200,  204, 

284,  310,  311. 
Ashley,  Benjamin,  83n. 
Aupaumut.     See  Hendrick. 
Avery,  Rev.  David,  79n.,  io8n. 
Avery,  Captain  James,  25. 
Avery,  Samuel,  29. 

Babcock,  Rev.  Stephen,  192-194. 

Baptist  churches,  192-195,  200,  310-312. 

Barber,  Rev.  Jonathan,  29,  30,  75. 

Barrett,  Moses,  60,  6j. 

Beatty,  Rev.  Charles,  j^^  74. 

Bible,  Indian,  8,  14,  15. 

Blinman,  Rev.  Richard,  196. 

"  Boston  Correspondents,"  i3n.,  59,  66,  86,  97n.,  99. 

Bostwick,  Rev.  David,  53n.,  815,  86,  90,  94,  95,  223,  235. 

Bourne,  Richard  and  Joseph,  17. 

Bowman,  Rev.  Joseph,  97n. 

Brainerd,  Rev.  David,  233,  235. 

Brainerd,  Rev.  John,  48,  58,  131,  209,  243. 

Brant,  Joseph,  67,  91,  98,  105,  239. 

Briant,  Solomon,  17. 

Brothertown  Indians,  emigration  from  New  England,  188,  189,  207-230,  240, 
244,  245,  247,  248,  258,  277;  treaties  with  the  Oneidas,  210-223,  261- 
263;  285-287;  sufferers  in  the  Revolution,  225-232,  276;  founding  of 
their  town,   252,253;  educated   men   among,   284,   285;   town  govern- 

369 
25 


370  INDEX 

ment,  287-292,  299-315 ;  land  troubles  of,  261-263,274,  275,  283-292; 
peacemakers,  252,  287-291,  300,  301,  324;  superintendents,  291,  292, 
299,  300,  312-314;  agent  of,  311-315;  records,  300,  301  ;  numbers,  290, 
304.  305'  309»  323'  326,  329-331 ;  lands  divided,  2S7,  299,  300,  303,  307, 
308;  agriculture  among,  272,  276,  303-306,  327,  328;  trades  learned, 
306,  329;  religious  affairs,  275-282,  309-313;  schools,  300,  301,  308, 
309,  314;  public  improvements,  290,  306-309;  laws,  300-303;  burying- 
grounds  of,  293-295,  297,  298,  327;  tribal  fund,  291,  292,  320,  324,  326; 
emigration  to  White  River,  316-319;  secure  Wisconsin  lands,  319-323  ; 
wards  of  the  New  York  Indians,  316,  323;  emigration  to  Green  Bay, 
325-327;  Brothertown,  Wis.,  325-331;  citizens  of  the  United  States, 
327;  in    Civil    War,   323,   334;  headmen   of,  275,   330;  family  history, 

334-367- 
Buell,  Rev.  Samuel,  40,  41,  44,  47,  52,  53,  85,  86,  164. 
Bull,  Rev.  Nehemiah,  233,  235. 
Burr,  President  Aaron,  48. 

Calvin,  Hezekiah,  64,  107,  no. 

Canajoharie,  io8n.,  114. 

Chamberlain,  Theophilus,  68,  107,  112. 

Chandler,  Rev.  Samuel,  143. 

Charters  on  Christianizing  the  Indians,  2-5. 

Cherokee  Indians,  50. 

Clelland,  Robert,  123-127. 

Clinton,  N.  Y.,  265,  268,  273,  274,  279,  307. 

"  Commissioners  of  the  United  Colonies,"  24. 

Commuck,  Thomas,  177,  180,  181,  325,  328,  329. 

Connecticut,  Correspondents  of  the  Scotch  Society,  i3n.,  62,  64,  67,  99,  100, 
102,  103,  106,  107,  119,  126-129,  131,  132,  134,  135,  145,  155;  General 
Association  of,  147,  282;  General  Court's  action,  24,  27,  30,  31,  59,  98, 
99,  114,  120-123,  189,  223,  241,  242,  299. 

Cook,  Moses,  170,  173. 

Crosby,  Rev.  Aaron,  97n. 

Cuish,  Rev.  Philip,  200. 

Curricomb,  Andrew,  211,  212,  231,  252,  255,  285. 

Dakayenensere,  Isaac,  S3. 

Dartmouth,  Earl  of,  138-141,  146-149. 

Dartmouth  College,  Indian  students  at,  67,  71,  78,  79,  239,  242,  251,  2S4 ; 

picture  of  Occom,   I49n. ;  founding  of,  1 57-160;  Commencements,  220, 

221,331. 
Davenport,  Rev.  James,  32-34,  43. 
Davies,  President  Samuel,  50. 


INDEX  371 

Deake,  Edward,  72,  195,  196. 

Dean,  James,  9711.,  255,  257,  268,  270,  273,  274. 

Dean,  John,  312-314. 

Dean,  Thomas,  307,  312-315,  320,  326,  327. 

Deansville,  N.  Y.,  293,  305,  307,  315.     See  Brothertovvn  Indians. 

De  Berdt,  Dennys,  138. 

Delaware  Indians,  58,  69,  ro6,  i07n.,  225,  316,  317. 

Dick,  Asa,  308,  309,  343. 

Dick,  Elder  Thomas,  312,  320,  325,  328. 

Dodge,  Phineas,  79n.,  io8n. 

Dorr,  George,  199. 

Dwight,  President  Timothy,  136,  304,306,   308,  314. 

Edwards,  Rev.  Jonathan,  83n.,  235. 

Eells,  Rev.  Nathaniel,  198. 

EHot,  Rev.  John,  studies  Indian  language,  8,  9;  missionary  plans  of,  9-14; 

"The  Christian   Commonwealth,"   11-13;    educational   work,   14,   15; 

missions,  16-20;  later  influence  of,  28,  29,  40. 
Ely,  Reuben,  199. 
Emigration  of  Indians,  to   Oneida,   207-225,   243-245,   247-249;    to  White 

River,  Ind.,  316-319;  to  Green  Bay,  Wis.,  319-328. 
Episcopal  church,  I2n.,  82,  126,  128,  132,  136,  143-145,  190-192. 
"  Episcopal  Society."     See  Societies. 
Erskine,  Rev.  John,  ']2^,  74,  100. 

Farmington  Indians,  70,  200-203,  210-212,  224. 

Fish,  Rev.  Joseph,  100,  193-199. 

Fish,  Phinehas,  17. 

FitcK,  Rev.  James,  24,  25. 

Foot,  Moses,  268,  273,  274,  291. 

Forbes,  Rev.  Eli,  83n.,  97n.,  255n. 

Fort  Schuyler,  231,  286. 

Fort  Stanwix,  84,  89. 

Fowler,  Elder  Benjamin  G.,  312,  320,  326,  328. 

Fowler,  David,  birth  and  parents,  53-55,  117,  203;  education  of,  64,  66; 
mission  with  Occom,  85-96;  teacher  at  Kanawarohare,  108-118;  mar- 
riage of,  26,  1 1 2-1 14;  teacher  at  Montauk,  203,  204;  early  emigrant  to 
Oneida,  221,  225,  226,  231,  232  ;  at  Stockbridge,  231,  232,  241,  242; 
return  to  Oneida,  -247  ;  home  at  Brothertown,  249-254,  261,  267,  269, 
270,  294,  305,  307,  308  ;  trustee  and  peacemaker,  252,  287,  290,  301 ; 
children  baptized,  275;  attitude  in  land  troubles,  290;  death  and 
burial,  295,  298. 


372  INDEX 

Fowler,  Jacob,  birth  and  parents,  53-55;  education  of,  70,  71;  school- 
master, 107,  114,  116,  117  ;  teacher  at  Groton,  197,  198  ;  interest  in  the 
emigration,  212;  tutor  at  Dartmouth  College,  197,  232;  in  government 
service,  197,  232;  an  emigrant  to  Oneida,  247,  248;  at  Brothertown, 
249,  251,  257,  260;  town  c  erk,  252;  death  of,  265,  294. 

French  Wars,  65,  68,  82-84,  9^,  99,  130,  169,  170,  200,  239. 

Frisbie,  Rev.  Levi,  72,  79n.,  loi,  I07n. 

Garret  family,  26,  72,  113,  114,  196. 

George  III,  King  of  England,  140,  142,.  148. 

German  Flats,  89,  91,  254,  256,  258. 

Gifford,  Rev.  Andrew,  143,  147. 

Gleason,  Rev.  Anson,  205. 

Gleason,  Rev.  Charles,  17. 

"Good  Peter,"  83,  106,  107,  126,  255n.,  316. 

Graves,  Rev.  Matthew,  132,  133,  I44n. 

Griswold,  Rev.  George,  199. 

Groton  Indians,  25,  11,  63,  75,  i62n.,  192,  193,  196-19S. 

Gunn,  Elisha,  106,  107. 

Hancock,  John,  136. 

Hannibal,  David,  204. 

Hawley,  Rev.  Gideon,  17,  83,  97n. 

Hendrick  Aupaumut,  237,  238,  253,  254,  264-266,  268,  269,  274,  276,  316-319. 

Hibbard,  Rev.  Augustine,  79n.,  io8n.,  i6in. 

Hobomok,  6. 

Horton,  Rev.  Azariah,  42-44.  46,  49. 

How,  Rev.  Perley,  17. 

Hubbard,  Willard,  I24n. 

Huntingdon,  Countess  of,  106,  142,  143,  178. 

Huntington,  Sarah  L.,  149,  i5on.,  205,  206. 

Ilutton,  Amos,  291,  304,  305. 

Indians,  the  Forefathers  attempt  to  Christianize,  1-20  ;  Anglicized,  5-8,  20, 
179,  266,  304,  329;  lost  tribes  of  Israel.  4,  11  ;  made  servants,  6,7; 
language  studied,  7-10,  58,  67,  92;  whites  take  children  of,  6,  7,  14; 
heathen,  23,  24,  no,  256;  decrease  of,  19,  169,  198,  200,  205,  323,  329- 
331 ;  lands,  10,  11,  13,  17,  21,  25,  27,  28,  42,  102,  1 19-129,  188,  194,  200, 
208,  210-223,  236,  245,  261-263,  274,  275,  283-292,  316-323  ;  agriculture 
among,  11,  62,  66,  loS,  no,  117,  208,  253,  272,  276,  303-306,  327,  328; 
town  government,  9-14,  40,  209,  284,  287-292,  299-315;  intemperance 
of>  I9>  57»  58*  64,  75,  93,  160,  162-176,  188,  302,  303,  306,  331  ;  famines 
among,  96,  no,  ni,  n6-ii8,  268;  singing,  46,  80,  in,  177,  178,  249, 


INDEX  373 

250,  328,  329;  churches  among,  13,  16-19,  32-34,9711.,  165-167,  190-196, 
205,  235-237,  263,  279-282,  318;  baptized,  31,  84,  192,  193,  235,  264. 
268,  269,  270,  271,  275;  soldiers,  23,  65,  68,  70,  72,  169,  170,  189,  196, 
200,  204,  231,  232,  237--240,  317,  323,  324;  at  college,  58,  67,  71,  78,  79, 
239,  242,  251,  284  ;  licensed  or  ordained  as  ministers,  49-53,  "jd^  77,  192- 
195,  200,  220,  221,  242. 

"  Indian  Melodies,"' 177,  180,  181,  328,  329. 

Indian  treaties.     See  treaties. 

Japhet,  25. 

Jeningo,  76,  77,  98. 

Jewett,  Rev.  David,  32-34,  71,  76,  100,  124-129. 

Johnson,  Amy,  64,  65,  66,  113. 

Johnson,  Edward,  94. 

Johnson,  Guy,  222,  223. 

Johnson,  Rev.  Jacob  W.,  63,  75.  162,  197,  198. 

Johnson,  Captain  Joseph,  65. 

Johnson,  Rev.  Joseph,  64-66,  107,  114-117,  167,  16S,  202,  203,  209-230. 

Johnson,  Samuel,  loSn.,  114. 

Johnson,  Sir  William,  67,  68,  89-92,  96,  103,  106,  109,  116,  132,  157,  162, 

210,  213-220,  224,  239. 
Johnson,  Zachary,  22,  65,  75,  167,  168,  204. 

Kanawarohare,  95,  104,  10S-118,  212,  221,  226. 

"  Kansas  claim,"  321-323. 

Keen,  Robert,  147. 

Kinne,  Rev.  Aaron,  68,  io8n,  114. 

Kirkland,  Rev.  Samuel,  birth  of,  105;  education,  61,  78,  79n.,  87,  105,  106; 
messenger  to  the  Six  Nations,  67 ;  missionary  to  the  Senecas,  64,  69, 
106,  109,  III  ;  among  the  Oneidas,  95,  io8n.,  109,  114-118,  178,  207,  225; 
cabin  at  Oneida,  114,  115;  opinion  on  removal  of  Wheelock's  school, 
70,  157  ;  testimony  to  "Good  Peter," 83n. ;  relations  with  Ralph  Whee- 
lock,  161  ;  journals  of,  166,  221,  244,  294,  296,  297,  309-312  ;  friend  of  the 
New  England  Indians,  212,  221,  241,  242,  244,  245,  269;  grant  of  lands 
to,  2S7  ;  at  Brothertown,  294,  304,  309-312. 

Kirkpatrick,  Rev.  William,  83-85. 

Konkapot,  232,  233,  235. 

Konkapot,  Jacob,  237,  256,  260. 

Konkapot,  Captain  John,  239,  240. 

Larrabee,  Benjamin,"  197. 

Latham,  David,  199. 

Lebanon,  church  at,  33-37,  61  ;  schoolhouse,  59-62  ;  meeting-house,  61. 

"  London  Society."     See  Societies. 


374  INDEX 

Mamohet,  122. 

Marshpee,  17-19,  8311. 

Mason,  Major  John,  120. 

Mason,  Captain  John,  27-29,  141,  142,  199. 

Mason,  Daniel  and  Samuel,  121. 

"  Mason  Controversy,"  28,  29,  1 19-129,  141,  142. 

Massachusetts,  charter  of,  3-5;  seal,  5;  General  Court's   action,  9,  10,  I3n. 

59,  233,  234;  missions  in,  9-20,  232-237. 
Mather,  Allyn,  79n.,  io8n.,  i6in. 
Mattawan,  John,  201-203. 
Matthews,  John,  72,  284. 
Mayhew,  Rev.  Experience,  24-26,  196,  197. 
Mayhew,  Rev.  Thomas,  8,  14,  16-19. 
McClure,  Rev.  David,  61,  62,  79n.,  loi,   io7n.,  114,  115,  148,  156,  158,  165, 

194,  227,  230. 
McSparran,  Rev.  James,  190,  191. 
Methodist  churches,  310-312,  328. 
Miami  Indians,  316-319. 

Miner,  John,  196. 

Mohawk  Indians,  missions  among,  51,  64,70,82-85,  103,  I07n. ;    at  Whee- 

lock's  school,  66-68,  86,  96. 
Mohegan  Indians,  residence  of,  21,  22;  early  numbers,  21 ;  missions  among, 

24-34,  100,  loi,  204-206;  lands  of,  21,  28,  29,  1 19-129;  schools,  27-31, 

123-129;  at  Wheelock's  school,  64-66,  71  ;  church  among,  i67n.,  193. 
Montauk  Indians,  residence  of,  42;    missions  among,  42-55,  203,  204;  at 

Wheelock's  school,  66,  70,  71. 
More,  Joshua,  59,  60. 
Morgan,  John,  197. 
Morse,  Rev.  Jedediah,  319. 
Moseley,  Rev.  Ebenezer,  97n.,  255n. 

Moseley,  Rev.  Samuel,  60,  97n.,  100.  *• 

Mossuck,  Daniel,  70,  211,  212,  249. 
Mossuck,  Solomon,  70,  202,  203,  211,  212. 

Narragansett  Indians,    missions  among,    25,  IZ''  189-196;  schools,  72,  192, 

195,  196  ;  at  Wheelock's  school,  71-74;  land  troubles  of,  72-74. 
Natick,  13-20,  28,  29,40,  209. 

Nedson,  Edward,  198,  199. 

New  England,  Great  Patent  of,  3,  4. 

New  England  Indians.     See  Brothertown  and  Stockbridge  Indians. 

New  Hampshire,  General  Assembly  of,  59,  131,  227. 

New  London,  First  church,  25-32;  North  church,  32-34,  76,  125. 


INDEX   -  375 

New  Stockbridge,  N.  Y.,  165,  245,  250-282,  286,  296,  316-318. 

New  York,  Correspondents  of  the  Scotch  Society,  T3n.,  42,  43,  48,  50,  58, 

59,  84-86,  89,  90,  94,  131  ;    General   Assembly's  action,   226,  245,  248, 

286-292,  299,  300,  324. 
"New  York  Indians  vs.  United  States,"  217,  319-323. 
Newton,  Rev.  John,  143,  17S. 
Niantic  Indians,  33,  100,  loi,  119,  199,  200 
Niles,  James,  71,  72,  284. 
Niles,  Rev.  Samuel,  72,  192-195,  198. 
Ninegret,  25,  12,  190.  * 

Nonantum,  9-ir,  16. 
Noyes,  Rev.  James,  25,  3on, 

Occom,  Rev.  Samson,  birth  and  parents,  21-24,  33,  36;  name,  21  ;  educa- 
tion of,  30,  34-41,  52,  94;  conversion,  34;  Hebrew  Bible,  39;  diary,  37, 
38;  Autobiography,  23,  24,  30,  34,  36,  135;  teacher  at  Montauk,  43-55; 
works  at  a  trade,  47,  295  ;  library,  39,  46,  47,  loi,  148,  277  ;  licensed  and 
ordained,  49-53;  marriage,  54;  missions  to  Oneida,  84-104;  family, 
64,  65,  94,  loi,  152-155,  293,  353,  354;  home  at  Mohegan,  loi,  102,  155, 
204,  205,  277;  pecuniary  circumstances,  44,  45,  47,  loi,  152,  153,  156, 
248;  "  Mohegan  Land  Case,"  119-129;  as  a  preacher,  125,  126, 136,  137, 
139,  169-175,247,  248,  278,279;  relation  to  Episcopalians,  126,128, 
133,  143-145;  in  England,  130-151  ;  manners  of,  137,  138,  141  ;  offered 
a  degree,  148;  pictures  of,  148-150,277;  fall  into  intemperance,  162- 
168;  on  removal  of  Wheelock's  school,  157-160;  execution  sermon, 
169-176;  on  slavery,  176;  hymn  book  and  hymns,  177-187,249-251,  278; 
plan  of  emigration,  207-209;  locates  Oneida  lands,  221  ;  address  to  the 
Six  Nations,  228,  229 ;  frontier  missionary,  97,  98,  247-279 ;  "  Christian 
cards,"  257,  260,  261,  278;  marriage  service  of,  250,  251,  274;  as  a  phy- 
sician, 262,  273,  274,  278;  defense  of  land  claim,  261-263,  274,  275,  283- 
292  ;  removal  to  Brothertown,  148,  277  ;  Indian  church  of,  165,  250- 
276,  279-282,  293;  home  at  Brothertown,  269,  271,  292,  293,  308;  remov- 
al to  New  Stockbridge,  290,  292,  295  ;  death  and  burial,  290,  295-298. 

Oneida  Castle,  91,  95,  loSn.,  114,  117. 

Oneida  Indians,  missions  among,  I2n.,  64,  66,  70,  72,  82-118,  130,  208,  319; 
at  Wheelock's  school,  68,  69,  162;  wampum  mission  belt,  93,  146; 
grant  lands,  211-223,  244,  245,  261-263,  274,  275,  285-287  ;  neutrality  of, 
225-229,  232. 

Onohoquaga,  64,  76,  82,  83,  97,  106,  107,  109. 

Onondaga  Indians,  77,  155,  156,  161,  162. 

Oriskany,  68. 


376  \  •    INDEX 

Park,  Rev.  Joseph,  190-193. 

Parsons,  Rev.  Jonathan,  33,  199. 

Paul,  Anthony,  248.  255,  267,  270,  272,  2S5,  293. 

Paul,  Moses,  169-176. 

Paupaumnuk,  Ebenezer,  235. 

Pauquaunaupeet,  "  Sir"  Peter,  238,  239,  251,  254,  257,  260,  264-266,  268,  271, 

273-276. 
Peabody,  Rev.  Oliver,  28,  29,  197. 
Pegun,  Thomas,  29. 

Pequot  Indians.     See  Groton  and  Stonington  Indians. 
Peters,  George,  270,  303. 
Pharaoh,  Ephraim,  54,  2S5,  291. 
Phelps,  Alexander,  39. 
Phillips,  Colonel  John,  227. 
Pigeon  Hunt,  96,  116. 
Pilgrim  Fathers,  4,  5. 
Pitkin,  Rev.  Timothy,  202,  203. 

Plymouth  Colony,  Charter  of,  3,  4;  Missions  in,  17-19. 
Pomeroy,  Rev.  Benjamin,  ^i,  39,  49,  60,  100,  161  n.,  221. 
Pontiac  War,  98. 
Popmonet,  Simon,  17. 
Poquiantup,  Hannah,  71,  112,  113,  284. 

Presbytery,  Albany,  165,  166,  281,  282  ;  Suffolk,  29,  50-53,  97,  132,  163,  164. 
Pumshire,  John,  58. 
Puritan  methods,  5-7. 
Pye,  Joseph,  266,  276,  281. 

Quakers,  312-315. 

Quinney  family,  238,  252,  260,  262,  264,  266-268,  276,  281,  295,  3i8n. 

Quinnipiac  Indians,  202,  203. 

Revivals,  32-34,  49,  167,  259. 

Revolutionary  War,  Indians  in,  68,  70,  72,  189,  196,  200,  204,  231,  232. 

Rice,  Asaph,  97n. 

Ripley,  Professor  Silvanus,  35,  79n.,  221. 

Rodgers,  Rev.  John,  223,  224,  248. 

Saint  Francis  Indians,  16. 

"  Scotch  Society."     See  Societies. 

Sekatur,  Rev.  Aaron,  194,  195. 

Sekatur,  Rev.  John,  194. 

Seneca  Indians,  69,  91,  96,  106,  109, 114. 

Separatism,  49,  75,  77,  192-194,  310,  311, 


INDEX 


377 


Sergeant,  Rev.  John,  233-237. 

Sergeant,  Rev.  John,  the  younger,  236,  243,  254,  270,  271,  279-282,  289,  296, 
297,  31S. 

Shattock,  John  and  Tobias,  72-74. 

Shinnecock  Indians,  42,  43. 

Simons,  Abraham,  71,  72,  197,  242,  250,  252,  255,  257,  26S,  2S4,  287,  293,  294. 

Simons,  Rev.  Daniel,  71,  240-243. 

Simons,  Emanuel,  71,  2S4. 

Simons,  Rev.  James,  192-194. 

Simons,  William,  25. 

Singing  among  the  Indians,  46,  80,  in,  177,  178,  249,  250,  328,  329. 

Small-pox,  73,  87,  140. 

Smith,  Rev.  Charles  J.,  67,  9S,  131,  135,  136. 

Smith,  John,  79-81, 102,  136,  138. 

Smith,  Joshua,  hymn  books  of,  180,  183. 

Smith,  Titus,  107. 

Societies,  Missionary,  "The  President  and  Soc.  for  the  Prop,  of  the 
Gospel  in  N.  E.,"  12;  "The  Company  for  the  Prop,  of  the  Gospel," 
etc.  ["Boston  Commissioners"  or  "London  Society"],  I2n.,  24,  29, 
?>^-ZZ^  38-40,  44-46,  48-50,  54,  59,  63,  64,  82,  %2>^  97n..  99,  100,  119,  123- 
129,133-135,  144,  155.  156,  177,  191,  192,  195-199,  201,  203,  233,  243, 
280;  "  Society  for  Promoting  Christian  Knowledge,"  i2n.,  59;  "The 
Society  for  the  Prop,  of  the  Gospel  in  Foreign  Parts"  ["Episcopal 
Society  "],  I2n  ,  82,  I43n.,  190;  "  Society  in  Scotland  for  Prop.  Chris- 
tian Knowledge*'  ["  Scotch  Society  "],  I3n.,  42,  43, 48,  50,  51,  58,  59,  64,66,, 
67,  84-86,  89,  90,  94,  97n.,  99,  100,  102,  103,  106,  107,  119,  126-129,  131, 
132,  134,  135,  145,  146,  155,  156,  236,  280;  "  Society  for  Prop.  Christian 
Knowledge,"  I3n.,  97n. ;  "  The  Society  for  Prop,  the  Gospel  Among 
the  Indians,"  etc.,  I3n.,  280,  281. 

Spencer,  Rev.  Elihu,  82. 

Squanto,  6. 

Stanton,  John,  196. 

Stanton,  Rev.  Moses,  194. 

Stanton,  Thomas,  196. 

Stockbridge,  Mass.,  234-237. 

Stockbridge  Indians,  mission  among,  232-246;  removal  to  Oneida,  243-245, 
249,  251,  252,  254,  260,  286;  at  New  Stockbridge,  165,  245,  250-282, 
2S6,  296,  316-318;  Westward  emigration,  316-323. 

Stonington  Indians,  25,  33,  196-199. 

Sweetingham,  Hugh,  197. 

Tallman,  Samuel,  69,  70,  225,  226,  284. 
Tantaquidgeon,  Lucy,  23,  loi,  204-206,  277. 


378  INDEX 

Tekananda,  69- 

Thanksgiving  Day,  Collections  on,  31,  189.  • 

Thomas,  "  Deacon,"  69,  160. 

Thompson,  William,  196. 

Thornton,  John,  143,  146,  147,  156,  164. 

Toppan,  Amos,  97  n. 

Towsey,  David,  202,  284. 

Treat,  Rev.  Samuel,  18. 

Treaties,  Indian,  210-223,  245,  261-263,  274,  275,  285-287,  316-323. 

Trumbull,  J.  Hammond,  2n.,  4,  5,  15. 

"  Trust  Fund,"  59,  146,  147,  155-158. 

Tuhie,  John,  252,  253,  265,  285,  287,  293,  295,  301,  308,  317. 

Tunxis  Indians.     See  Farmington  Indians. 

Tupper,  Revs.  Eldad  and  Elisha,  18. 

Tupper,  Captain  Thomas,  18. 

Tuscarora  Indians,  84,  92,  219,  232. 

Umpachenee,  233,  235. 

Uncas,  21,  22,  24,  120,  323. 

Uncas,  Major  Ben,  25,  122. 

Uncas,  Ben,  2d,  22,  30-32,  123. 

Uncas,  Ben,  3d,  28,  29,  3in.,  44,  64,  123,  124. 

Uncas,  Caesar,  25,  28. 

Uncas,  Isaiah,  3in.,  64,  65,  204. 

Virginia,  Charters  of,  2-4 ;  Indians  in,  6. 

Wampum  mission  belt,  93,  146. 

Wampy,  Elijah,  211,  212,  225,  231,  241,  252,  260,  276,  285,  287-291,  293,  307. 

Wangunk  Indians,  76,  202. 

Warren,  Sir  Peter,  Legacy  of,  59,  99. 

Washington,  General  George,  227,  228,  238, 

Waubun,  9,  10,  16,  17. 

W^auby,  Elder  Isaac,  301,  312,  318,  319. 

Wauby,  Roger,  64,  252,  255,  256,  264-268,  274,  285,  287,  291,  293. 

Wauby,  Samson,  63,  64,  75,  76,  197,  284. 

West,  Rev.  Stephen,  236,  237,  241,  243. 

Wheelock,  Rev.  Eleazar,  birth  and  parents,  35  ;  interest  in  Indians  aroused, 
33;  instructs  Occom,  34-41  ;  Charity  School,  56-81,  99,  100,  284,  285; 
narratives,  131,  133,  147;  letters  to  Whitefield,  46,  62,  92,  93,  96,  100, 
102,  125,  135,  155,  162;  memorials  to  Connecticut  Assembly,  98,  99; 
organizes  the  "  Connecticut  Correspondents,"  99,  100 ;  sends  Occom  to 
England,  130-136;  loses  influence  over  the  Indians,  155-162,  207  ;  com- 
mends the  emigration,  224,  225. 


INDEX  379 

Wheelock,  Ralph,  35,  61,  69,  io8n.,  118,  161. 

Whitaker,  Rev.  Nathaniel',  76,  9311.,  100,  131-151. 

White,  Hugh,  270,  272,  291. 

White  River,  emigration  to,  316-319. 

Whitefield,  Rev.  George,  29n.,  33,  58,  62,  103,  104,  130,  133,  138,  139,  178. 

Whitman,  Rev.  Samuel,  201,  202. 

Wigwam  life,  24,  46,  20on. 

Windham  Association,  49,  50,  51,  58,  62,  100. 

Williams,  Daniel,  Legacy  of,  i2n.,  82. 

Williams,  Rev.  Eleazar,  319. 

Williams,  Roger,  8,  9. 

Williams,  Rev.  Solomon,  40,  42,  44,  48,  49,  50,  100. 

Williams,  Rev.  Stephen,  232,  233. 

Wisconsin,  emigration  to,  319-328. 

Woodbridge,  Timothy,  233. 

Woodward,  Professor  Bezaleel,  35. 

Woolley,  Jacob,  58. 

Woolley,  Joseph,  64,  106,  107,  109,  no. 


